Annual Report 2006-2007 - Cafcass

case study
Managing our resources: adapting to rising public law demand
Focusing on dispute resolution for private law cases is helping our Liverpool team to manage the increase in public
law cases.
“Like other teams across the country we are seeing a rise in public law cases, which puts practitioners under great
pressure,” says Colin Derby, Service Manager. “Over the past year we’ve seen a 35% increase in public law cases
and a 60% increase in Rule 9.5 appointments.”
Liverpool has dealt with this pressure partly by working with local judges to focus on dispute resolution for all
private law cases.
Designated Family Judge Margaret De Haas QC says, “It is important that the judiciary and courts work with
Cafcass staff to provide as flexible a service as possible to meet the needs of children and families. If this is
achieved by creative use of the dispute resolution scheme rather than the routine ordering of Section 7 reports,
then this should be done.”
The FCA and the judge assess each case at the first hearing with the parents and decide what action is necessary.
This can range from agreement on the day to an investigation that could include all those issues usually
encompassed within a Section 7 report. The judge and the FCA then negotiate a timeframe for the case based on
the needs of the child and the workload of the FCA.
“Previously as a team we were struggling to complete reports in less than sixteen weeks,” says Colin. “But now,
even allowing for FCAs’ busy schedules, matters are being dealt with more speedily. So the children benefit from
earlier action and the FCAs also benefit from being better able to manage their own workloads.”
The shift can be seen quite clearly on the allocation board in Liverpool.
“Eighteen months ago, the private law and public law teams in Liverpool merged and the board showed a 50/50
split in work,” says Colin. “Now 75% of our workload is public law cases.”
| Cafcass Annual Report and Accounts 2006–07