No allocation delays at Cafcass Wales

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in Wales has eliminated waiting lists in public and private law since it was taken over by the Welsh assembly.

Its achievement, revealed in a parliamentary answer last week, tops that of any English region and, claim Cafcass Wales sources, marks a widening of a performance gap already evident before the transfer.

In public law, Cafcass Wales now allocates all cases within two days, up from 80 per cent when it transferred to the assembly in April, and against a target of 70 per cent.

In England, the proportion allocated within two days was 47.8 per cent in July, the same in August and 45.9 per cent in September.

On the private law side, no cases in Wales were unallocated within 10 weeks of the court filing date, compared to 0.5 per cent before transfer.

In England, 4.1 per cent were unallocated in September, 2.7 per cent in August and 3.7 per cent in July, although the East Midlands currently matches Cafcass Wales in having no waiting list.

The Welsh assembly government attributed the performance to measures put in place before the transfer, including the establishment of a central case allocation system.