Guardians’ service wins more money

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service is to receive its first budget increase since 2004-5 in the coming financial year, it announced this week.

Cafcass will receive a 5.9 per cent increase on its base budget for 2007-8. The cash equivalent – £5.9m – was included in its budget for 2006-7 as a one-off increase, but the Department for Education and Skills has agreed to continue it.

Chief executive Anthony Douglas said the increase was a recognition of the “work we do and the pressures on us”.

Cafcass also announced it is taking forward many of the proposals in its controversial reform paper, Organising for Quality, published last December, which included measures to increase investment in practice and improve efficiency.