NO: Malcolm Richardson, chair of the family proceedings committee,Magistrates Association
We always want what is best for the child and if this proposedpartnership working means that the court will have better information totake a decision then that is to be encouraged. I think we should be ableto trust that social work professionals and Cafcass professionals canwork together in a collaborative manner yet in a way that still enablesCafcass to remain independent.
YES: Barbara Hopkin, lawyer at the Association of Lawyers forChildren.
The concern we have is that it is a fudged scheme and it does not ensureprotection to the child. Cafcass as the guardian is there to representthe child and the local authority is involved from a child in needperspective. Cafcass needs to stay independent to ensure it provides aproper service to children. All this will do is involve another layer ofmanagement when what we really need is more service delivery tochildren. It will increase the amount of work that Cafcass does and itmay well be completely impractical.
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