Cafcass deactivates prioritisation protocol in four family courts areas as result of “effective partnership working”
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has deactivated the prioritisation protocol in four family courts areas, as a result of “effective partnership working to address local challenges in demand, delay, and capacity”, it has revealed.
The prioritisation protocol, introduced in 2021, is the response of Cafcass to mitigate “system-wide pressures” caused by a combination of the increase in demand for its services, delay in bringing proceedings to a conclusion, and challenges in maintaining capacity.
The four courts where prioritisation has now been de-activated are:
- Birmingham
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Coventry
- Northampton
Cafcass said that deactivation in these court areas has been made possible due to “all partners at a local level working together to address the pressures on the family justice system”.
Three court areas remain under the prioritisation protocol: Greater Manchester, Essex and Suffolk/Norfolk.
Cafcass has revealed that partnership plans are being developed to decide how and when to deactivate the prioritisation protocol in these areas.
The organisation noted that the core aims of prioritisation are to “ensure the timely allocation of all public law cases and higher risk private law cases; limit the caseloads of family court advisers; protect the capacity of managers to undertake management oversight and supervision activity; and thereby maintain the quality of the service experienced by children, families and the courts”.
An evaluation of the prioritisation protocol carried out by Cafcass found that the protocol has proved to be an effective way to manage high levels of demand.
The report also warned that pressures of demand, delay and capacity remained for the whole family justice system and were “likely to be exacerbated by further pressures on public sector resources”.
The protocol would therefore need to be “retained and adapted” as an operational solution to support children and their families, and the workloads of staff, in an “over pressured system” for the foreseeable future, it said.
Cafcass continues to manage a higher number of children’s cases. The number of active open children’s cases at the end of January 2023 was 33,240, which is 10.3% higher than it was in March 2020. The prioritisation protocol evaluation report noted that the Covid-19 pandemic amplified pressures across the Family Justice System that were “already building before it began”.
A Focused Visit by Ofsted in January, which examined how Cafcass has managed increased demand, found that the quality of practice had been maintained and, in some areas, further improved.
Lottie Winson
