A report into the suitability of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) following the tragic death of 'Baby Peter' has deemed the organisation unfit for purpose.
Margaret Hodge, chair of the Committee of Public Accounts which carried out the investigation, today said: “Cafcass was ill-prepared for the very large increase in care cases in 2009-10 which followed the Baby Peter tragedy and caused chaos in the family justice system.
“This lack of readiness was a direct result of the organisation’s continued failure to get to get to grips with the fundamental weaknesses in its culture, management and performance. It is still dealing with a legacy of low morale, unacceptably high levels of sickness absence and under-performance by some staff.”
34 per cent rise in case referrals
Cafcass was set up in 2001 as an independent body, or quango, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. One of its main duties is liaising with families and reporting to courts when care orders are placed. Following the death of Baby Peter in 2008 it faced a rise of around 34 per cent in case referrals.
The investigation has shown that one third of all such referrals, known as section seven reports, were more than ten days late to court. The rise in cases led to “chaos” in the family justice system, the report states, and “exposed Cafcass as an organisation that was not fit for purpose in dealing with the increased number of cases”.
While the committee is content with the quality of reports to the courts it warned that increasing caseloads for family court advisers “brings new risks to the quality of service”.
The Department for Education is advised to work closer with local authorities to combat the “varied” quality of local authority social work reports which contribute to the pressure felt by Cafcass' staff.
Poor staff performance
Staff performance is highlighted in the report as "unsatisfactory". Eight out of ten Cafcass service areas tested failed Ofsted inspections between 2008 and 2010. Despite a cull of 150 staff following the introduction of a new management system in 2008 there are still 100 staff whose performance is still being addressed through action plans and practice improvement notices.
Cafcass spokeswoman Naomi Lawson defended the organisation, noting improvements in staff absence (to twelve days) and to their service meaning that 99.7 per cent of care cases were allocated in October. The organisation was working on 3,000 more cases in October this year than it was in March, she said.
"These figures constitute our best month’s performance ever and are pretty impressive by any organisation’s standards, especially when you consider that we saw a 35 per cent increase in care cases last year and a concurrent 16 per cent increase in private law cases."
"This report is looking at 2008 and the years previous, it doesn't quite capture what's happening now on the ground," she added.
Lawson pointed to evidence provided to the investigation by Sir Mark Hedley, the most senior judge in London, in support of the organisation. It stated that: “The service that is actually delivered on the ground for most of us is certainly fit-for-purpose.”
The Department for Education has also expressed its belief that the organisation will be fit-for-purpose by 2011. But the committee asserted that it “does not share the Department for Education’s confidence that all will be well by 2011.” Strong leadership, renewed energy and focussed commitment, it says will be necessary to overcome the organisation’s shortfalls.
