Annual Report 2006-2007 - Cafcass

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Achieving our Objectives We set out our ambitions in a two-year business plan for 2005 to 2007. Many targets were met in 2005–06 while some took the full 2005–07 period to deliver, as the impact of both internal and external changes resulted in fresh priorities emerging during the year. Our overriding priorities were to transform services and modernise practice, and to transform the organisation. Transforming services and modernising practice Our objectives to help us achieve this broad aim are: 1. Improving outcomes for children in line with Every Child Matters (being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, economic well-being) by modernising practice. page 13 2. Mainstreaming race equality and diversity in all our work, in particular in teams. page 16 3. Developing a more highly trained and skilled workforce. page 18 4. Supporting children and families and improving our services through working effectively with all our partners. page 20 Transforming the organisation Our objectives to help us achieve this broad aim are: 1. Becoming a more strategic organisation in order to represent children and their interests. page 22 2. Strengthening leadership and management at all levels. page 24 3. Developing a workforce strategy to recruit and retain a flexible workforce which better reflects the communities we serve and makes Cafcass the employer of first choice for professionals in our sector. page 26 4. Being more efficient and adding value in all we do. page 28 12 | Cafcass Annual Report and Accounts 2006–07
Transforming services and modernising practice Objective 1 Improving outcomes for children in line with Every Child Matters by modernising practice A number of important milestones were achieved during the past year on our continuing journey to improve outcomes for children by modernising our practice. We have widely discussed the changes to our working practices, both internally and with our partners in the family justice system. New National Standards have now been agreed, which set out what service users, partner agencies and practitioners in the family justice system can expect from Cafcass. We have introduced a new Safeguarding Framework and a revised domestic violence toolkit. We are continuing to roll out a programme of training on cases involving domestic violence for all our operational staff, including a two-day course on communicating with children, provided by Barnardo’s. We have made considerable progress in embedding the President’s Private Law Programme and have dispute resolution schemes in place in all courts in the country. We will seek to embed further changes in our practice through our next three-year Strategic Business Plan. Safeguarding Framework The new Safeguarding Framework was implemented from 1st April 2007. It pulls together all guidance and procedures relating to our duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, has been produced following extensive internal and external consultation and has received endorsement from the NSPCC. We will be evaluating its impact on practice in January 2008. “The NSPCC welcomes this Framework. It is a clear and comprehensive document, which clarifies the responsibilities of Cafcass and other agencies, and the role of staff and children and families.” NSPCC comment on the Cafcass Safeguarding Framework A new information-sharing protocol about to be agreed with the police will also improve our ability to screen for risk and carry out assessments where required. Safeguarding with other agencies Safeguarding children & families Safeguarding with staff Cafcass as a safeguarding agency Dispute resolution schemes Dispute resolution schemes have been developed in all parts of the country and have proved successful in terms of better outcomes for families – around 60% of our interventions are achieving full or partial agreements. We need to test the safety and sustainability of these agreements and are looking at best practice around the world to develop a single model. Many of these schemes have directly involved children, and the focus is to encourage parents to take responsibility for negotiating their own arrangements and to improve their communication concerning their children. “Without this process I don’t think we would ever have been able to agree. After two years of bickering and being unable to reach any kind of compromise I feel that the process gave me a forum to finally be heard.” A service user who participated in the Extended Dispute Resolution Scheme pilot in Norwich National Standards The new Standards update the 2003 Cafcass Service Standards and Principles, and are being phased in from 1st June 2007. The National Standards seek to: • promote early intervention and strengthen our approach to safeguarding children • ensure that we actively work to understand each child’s wishes and feelings and take these views into account • promote constructive agreements and work in a problem-solving way wherever possible • improve our internal business processes • improve our case management, case planning and our overall quality of service and customer care. A small number of National Standards need further development work prior to full implementation and we have made clear which these are and the date when they will be implemented. Section 1: Management Commentary | 13
Page 1: Annual Report and Accounts Children
Page 4 and 5: Our purpose Cafcass has a statutory
Page 6 and 7: Overview by the Chair Chairing a no
Page 8 and 9: Section 1: Management Commentary Se
Page 10 and 11: Private law Our approach to working
Page 12: case study Managing our resources:
Page 15: case study Cafcass Legal and the Hi
Page 19 and 20: case study North East Children’s
Page 21 and 22: Diversity conference We held a nati
Page 23 and 24: staff easy access to their collecti
Page 25 and 26: Family Justice Councils Cafcass con
Page 27 and 28: “This excellent practice guidance
Page 29 and 30: This year we also produced three DV
Page 31 and 32: Diversity Our workforce is ageing,
Page 33 and 34: upgrade will be completed by the en
Page 35 and 36: KPI 2 - At least 98% of all public
Page 37 and 38: KPI 5 -The percentage of Section 8s
Page 39 and 40: Section 1: Management Commentary |
Page 41 and 42: The Parliamentary and Health Servic
Page 43 and 44: Members of the Board at an open Boa
Page 45 and 46: Section 4: Statement on Internal Co
Page 47 and 48: and advice on best practice. The co
Page 49 and 50: Board members’ remuneration (audi
Page 51 and 52: Section 6: Accounts 2006-07 Section
Page 53 and 54: Additional meetings between the tra
Page 55 and 56: the Secretary of State for Educatio
Page 57 and 58: Balance Sheet as at 31st March 2007
Page 59 and 60: Expected useful lives are as follow
Page 61 and 62: The total staff cost includes a cos
Page 63 and 64: 7 Tangible fixed assets Freehold la
Page 65 and 66: 13 Analysis of changes in cash 1st
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18b Analysis of capital expenditure
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The FRS17 valuation as at 31st Marc
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General contact details We can be c
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