Care order applications received by Cafcass falls for first time in years

The number of care order applications fell for the first time in several years in 2017/18 but only by a small amount (2.3%), Cafcass has reported.

There were 14,207 such applications in the year to 31 March 2018, down from 14,599 in the previous 12 months.

The last five years have seen significant growth in care applications – in 2013/14 there were 10,620, in 2014/15 there were 11,159 and in 2015/16 there were 12,792.

In March 2018 Cafcass received a total of 1,238 care applications, down from 1,298 the previous year but still the second highest total for the month on record.

Earlier this month the Ministry of Justice said in its Family Court Statistics Quarterly the number of public law children cases starting in 2017 was up slightly (1%) on the full year compared to 2016.

The MoJ also revealed that on average, care proceedings took longer with fewer disposals within the 26 week timeframe. The average time for a care or supervision case to reach first disposal was 28 weeks in 2017, up one week from 2016.