News

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service has been forced to employ agency staff to tackle the chronic shortage of children’s guardians in legal cases, writes Derren Hayes.

Waiting lists for care order cases are increasing across the country, with many areas previously unaffected now reporting waits, some of up to six months. In London alone, the waiting list is around 180 cases, caused by a 20 per cent rise in the number of cases and a shortage of social workers.

As a short-term fix, Cafcass plans to employ 15 agency guardians. Eight started work this week, and it is understood that each one will deal with up to 12 cases at a time.

The move is part of a wider range of measures - including a recruitment drive for employed and self-employed guardians, improving support to practitioners and allocating cases to regions with spare capacity - to tackle the problem.

But the decision to use agency staff has been attacked as dangerous and short sighted by Nagalro, the professional association for family court advisers and independent social work practitioners and consultants.

The organisation argues that using agency staff that get paid more could further erode the relationship between Cafcass and guardians, forcing some to look for alternative work. Self-employed guardians are paid £22.50 an hour in the southeast, with agency staff reportedly getting between £25-30 an hour.

Many left the service following Cafcass’s decision last year, which was subsequently reversed, to scrap their self-employed status.

In a letter to members, Nagalro chair Susan Bindman, said she was concerned that agency staff might not have the experience or the commitment to the organisation of existing practitioners.

"We predict that such actions will only alienate the very practitioners they need to keep and that whatever gains are made in the short term will be lost in the longer term if experienced practitioners stop taking allocations or if employees leave," she said.

Nagalro has called for greater incentives for self-employed workers to take on more cases. It is meeting Cafcass this week to discuss employment quotas, a pay review for employees and the reintroduction of travel expenses payments.

A Cafcass spokesperson said: "We want to try and meet the needs of self-employed guardians. The work is out there and we’re trying to find experienced guardians to deal with it."

The spokesperson admitted agency staff are more expensive but said Cafcass saw it as a "short-term measure we have to take".

Nagalro has posted details of priority cases in London in the hope it will encourage self-employed guardians to take on more cases. www.nagalro.com