Frontline Cafcass staff to be spared redundancy

Frontline practitioners will not face redundancy under plans to restructure the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service, its chief executive said today.

Anthony Douglas told Community Care any job losses would be “above frontline worker level” and would take place between now and 2010, meaning natural wastage would play a significant role.

Douglas said he would unveil plans early next month to take forward plans to reorganise working practices around new national standards based on more efficient case management and earlier intervention.

Last month family court union Napo said it feared the plan would trigger redundancies.

However, Douglas said investment in practitioners was crucial to the success of the plans.