Numbers of Cafcass Family Court Advisors
Cafcass were asked:
Can you please provide the number of Cafcass Practitioners (or Family Court Advisors if you prefer that term) employed by or contracted by Cafcass, identified by region. Please provide this information by ‘year beginning’ for the past three years. ie: Beginning of 2015, 2016, and beginning 2017.
Cafcass responded: Please see table one below for this information. These figures include employed (including Bank and Sessional practitioners) and agency practitioners. They also include Self Employed Contractors (SECs) with an active caseload as at these dates.
As Cafcass does not have SEC data for January 2015 and the service area from this period would be inaccurate given changes to service area structure, data has only been provided for January 2016 and January 2017.
| Region | Service Area | 1st Jan 2016 | 1st Jan 2017 |
| Tyneside and Northumbria | A1 | 51 | 54 |
| Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York, Cumbria and Lancashire |
A2 | 114 | 109 |
| Greater Manchester | A3 | 82 | 79 |
| South Yorkshire and Humberside |
A4 | 60 | 65 |
| West Yorkshire | A5 | 72 | 67 |
| Hampshire, The Isle of Wight and Dorset |
A6 | 52 | 51 |
| Avon, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Thames Valley |
A7 | 86 | 86 |
| Cornwall, Devon and Somerset |
A8 | 62 | 68 |
| Cheshire and Merseyside | A9 | 95 | 100 |
| Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire |
A10 | 55 | 51 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire |
A11 | 65 | 67 |
| Birmingham, the Black Country, Shropshire and Worcestershire |
A12 | 96 | 97 |
| National Business Centre, Coventry, Northamptonshire & Buckinghamshire |
A13 | 63 | 66 |
| Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire |
A14 | 117 | 117 |
| Greater London (Public Law) | A15a | 131 | 146 |
| Greater London (Private Law) | A15b | 80 | 85 |
| Surrey and Sussex | A16 | 54 | 57 |
| Kent | A17 | 43 | 40 |
| N/A (Self Employed Contractors) | SEC | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | 1,380 | 1,407 |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCAs | 1197 | 1197 | 1149 | 1203 |
| non-FCAs | 552 | 530 | 467 | 508 |
| Total Employees | 1749 | 1727 | 1616 | 1711 |
| FCAs who left | 132 | 101 | 140 | 111 |
| Dismissed FCAs | 9 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
| FCAs who left under a compromise agreement | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Cafcass referrals to HCPC about an FCA | 5 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Female | Male | |
|---|---|---|
| FCAs | 82.9% | 17.1% |
| Overall | 81.4% | 18.6% |
| HCPC registration gender breakdown - all social workers | 81.56% | 18.44% |
In a Family Law system designed for combative parents there is no real allowance for the views of children and any understanding of how Family Law ultimately impacts on children most of all.
We speak for the children in Family Law so that, finally, the children have a voice.