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.

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 to tackle the problem, such as a recruitment drive for employed and self-employed guardians, improving support to practitioners and allocating cases to regions with spare capacity.

But the decision to use agency staff has been attacked by Nagalro, the professional association for family court advisers and independent social work practitioners and consultants. It argues that using agency staff who are paid more could further erode the relationship between Cafcass and children's guardians.

Self-employed guardians are paid £22.50 an hour in the South East, with agency staff reportedly receiving between £25 to 30 an hour.

Nagalro is meeting Cafcass this week to discuss employment quotas, a pay review for employees and the reintroduction of travel expenses payments.