The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service hopes to
make staff a "realistic" pay offer, despite its financial
woes.
In an interview with
Community Care last week, chief
executive Anthony Douglas said emergency measures had lowered a
projected overspend of £4m for 2005-6.
He now hopes to make staff a "realistic offer", with pay
negotiations expected to start next week.
In a letter to Douglas last week, unions Napo and Unison reiterated
warnings that a serious dispute would be inevitable if Cafcass made
an "unacceptable offer".
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Douglas also said that Cafcass's financial troubles had not yet led
to an increase in case backlogs. But he added that it would have to
increase spending in 2006-7 on training, IT infrastructure and
salaries, saying that Cafcass's pay was "very uncompetitive" in
some areas.
If the government grant increased by no more than inflation next
year it would necessitate a smaller, more productive workforce, he
said.
This month Douglas will publish a strategy for reforming working
practices.
