New care applications fall five per cent
Joe Lepper
Thursday, November 14, 2019
The number of new care applications for children being dealt with by the courts is continuing to fall, according to official figures.
Data from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) show that it received 7,794 new care applications from April to October 2019, which is 407 – or five per cent – fewer than the same period the previous year.
These care cases involved 12,645 children, which is 770 – or 5.7 per cent – fewer than between April and October 2018.
When including other forms of public law, including discharging care orders, the number of new cases received from April to October 2019 was 10,854. This is 109 fewer (one per cent down) on the same period the previous year.
The number of children involved has also reduced. The cases received over the last seven months involved 17,550 children which is 570 fewer than the previous year over the same time frame. This is a drop of 3.2 per cent.
However, the figures show that the total new cases it has received when including private law cases, involving parents divorcing or separating, has increased markedly. The number of new cases of this kind increased by 7 per cent between April to October this year when compared with the same period in 2018.
In total Cafcass has received 38,170 new public and private law cases this year so far, compared to 36,491 the previous year.
Last month Cafcass revealed that while the number of care applications is falling the number of open care cases going through family courts is continuing to rise.
Source: Cafcass
The service's figures show that there was a 7.3 per cent increase in the number of open cases at a given point in October, compared with same month in 2018.
This rise is because the figures include more complex cases that require further legal work.
Cafcass chief executive Jacky Tiotto told CYP Now in October that the organisation is still operating "at peak capacity".
The average time it takes for care proceedings to complete is 33 weeks, this is the highest since a 26-week target for care and supervision proceedings was introduced in the family courts through the Public Law Outline.
