On Advice given to the NSCFC by a QC you are within your rights to request that any interview conducted by a CAFCASS Officer/Court Reporter or Social Worker be tape recorded or take place in the presence of ones own solicitor. Were such a request to be denied this would be against a persons Human Rights and have to be fully justified in writing.

 

The NSCFC believes strongly and with overwhelming justification that all CAFCASS and Social Services interviews should be either taped or take place in the presence of ones solicitor (as is available in criminal law). Far to many family members have complained that what is said to CAFCASS officers is either not reported or blatantly misrepresented in the interest of the resident parent, this invariably to the point of outright personal character assignation and coloured with the officers own interpretation. Reality being that in 99.9% of all cases, what is recommended by the CAFCASS officer to a judge is the deciding factors in the family courts this with little if any recourse given to the estranged parent, grandparent or extended family. How can this be so we ask when CAFCASS officers are by no means qualified experts in the field of child or adult psychology? Suffice to say, even experts make life shattering mistakes as in the Angela Cannings case!  

 

Given overwhelming evidence the NSCFC also believes that CAFCASS reports take far too long to complete in child time, be it 3 months 6 months or 9 months. As such CAFCASS in its present form plays a great part in breaking the valuable bond between a child and its estranged parent. This we must also address, no longer can we at the NSCFC on behalf of both children and parents alike tolerate under-funding and lack of expertise as an excuse for CAFCASS to undermined child, parent and family relationships to the detriment of the nuclear family and as such is an affront to the Human Rights Act, Articles 6 & 8 this to include the United Convention on the Rights of the Child in total.

How to Complain About Cafcass

STAGE 1 - Registration
If you want to complain about CAFCASS, You must first make your complaint in writing to the Regional Complaints Manager for your local area. CAFCASS should acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and also enter it onto their complaints database. CAFCASS will then decide whether or not to register your complaint. If they do register it, it will then been passed to a Regional Director for investigation.
If they decide not to register it, they must inform you of their reasons in writing within 10 working days. You then have the right to ask for your complaint to be reviewed by a Regional Director. The Regional Director will then make a decision about the complaint and will inform you and the Regional Complaints Manager of his decision. if still unhappy you may contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman through an MP.

Regional Complaints Managers
You can contact the Regional Complaints Managers through your regional office below.

STAGE 2 - Problem-solving
At stage two the Regional Manager will meet you and also the person you have made the complaint about. He should then write to you with any agreed solution, and any remaining issues. This process should take 20 working days from receiving the complaint.
If you are not satisfied you can ask the Regional Manager for your complaint to proceed to stage 3 of the Complaints Procedure. He will consider whether or not more can be achieved by further investigation, how serious the complaint is or if it would be in the child’s best interests to further investigate the complaint. If the Regional Manager decides not to investigate your complaint further they will write to you with their reasons.
You can then ask the Regional Director to review this decision, and decide whether this has been fair or not.

STAGE 3 - Investigation
At this stage an independent investigator will be brought in, who is not an employee of CAFCASS. He will carry out an investigation, talk to the people involved, look through all the documentation, and then write a report on his findings. If all or part of the complaint is withheld, the Regional Director will send you all or parts of the report explaining his recommendations and what CAFCASS will do about these.
This stage should be completed within 30 days of your complaint being registered at stage 3.
If you are still unhappy at how your complaint has been investigated you can move on to stage 4 of the complaints procedures, by writing to the National Complaints Manager. This must be done within 20 working days of receiving the letter from the Regional Director.

STAGE 4 - Review
A review is carried out by a review panel. This will consist of a board member, and a Regional Director or Children's Rights Director. There is no hearing at this stage, but the review panel will provide written conclusions, which will be sent to you through the National Office.
If you are still not happy, you can contact The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

THE PARLIAMENTARY AND HEALTH SERVICE OMBUDSMAN
This Ombudsman deals with complaints from members of the public who feel they have suffered unjustly because of maladministration by government departments such as CAFCASS. They can examine how CAFCASS have handled situations, but cannot comment on professional opinions and outcomes in court proceedings.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
Millbank Tower
Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
0845 015 403
phso.enquiries@ombudsman.org.uk