Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee
Call for Evidence
Announcement of Committee Inquiry: The Operation on Cafcass in Wales
The Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee has agreed to undertake an inquiry into the operation of CAFCASS in Wales and is calling for those with an interest or expertise in this area to submit written evidence.
Background
The Health, Wellbeing and Local Government Committee of the National Assembly for Wales is undertaking an inquiry into the operation of CAFCASS in Wales.
The main purpose of the Committee’s inquiry is to examine the work of CAFCASS Cymru and to review the arrangements for the delivery of CAFCASS services for children and young people in Wales since it was devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government in April 2005.
Terms of Reference
The Committee inquiry should focus on the following key areas:
The effectiveness of CAFCASS Cymru in conducting assessments and analyses to facilitate decision making in the best interests of the child.
The integration of CAFCASS Cymru into the safeguarding children framework in Wales.
The extent to which the Welsh Assembly Government’s approach to children’s rights is reflected in the way CAFCASS Cymru delivers and develops its services.
The effectiveness of CAFCASS Cymru in addressing the needs of diverse groups.
The effectiveness of performance management tools used to assess the performance of CAFCASS Cymru service areas, including compliance with national standards.
Strategic direction and leadership in delivery of the CAFCASS Cymru Strategy.
The allocation of resources to CAFCASS in Wales by the Welsh Assembly Government, which supports the delivery of its statutory responsibilities and reflects national and local priorities.
The availability and accessibility of child contact centres for children and their families in Wales.
Some of the core issues that the Committee will want to consider are:
How well does CAFCASS Cymru fulfil its statutory duties within the Family Justice System and what are the main challenges for the organisation?
How effective is CAFCASS Cymru is conducting assessments and analyses to facilitate decision making in the best interests of the child, including private law, domestic abuse and contact arrangements?
To what extent do CAFCASS Cymru services reflect the Welsh Assembly Government’s approach to children’s rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?
What role should CAFCASS Cymru play in the wider safeguarding framework in Wales?
How effective is CAFCASS Cymru in addressing the needs of diverse groups?
What action should the Welsh Assembly Government take to ensure there are sufficient opportunities for services users’ and stakeholders’ views to be captured in the work of CAFCASS Cymru, including children and young people themselves and the wider family network?
How effective is CAFCASS Cymru in ensuring that resources are effectively and efficiently deployed and in allocating funds to activities such as child contact centres?
Submissions do not need to address all the above areas and the Committee welcomes written evidence from both individuals and organisations, including children and their families with direct experience of CAFCASS’s work. We will also be holding oral evidence sessions.
Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Committee at the address below, to arrive no later than Friday 24 April 2009. If possible, please supply an electronic version in MS Word or Rich Text format, either by e mail to health.wellbeing.localgovt.comm@wales.gsi.gov.uk or on a disk. Further guidance on the submission of evidence is attached. I would be grateful if you could share this request with other interested parties or, where appropriate, any of your member organisations.
The Committee may call on those who have submitted written evidence to supplement it in oral evidence to the Committee. Please indicate in your response whether you would be prepared to give evidence in person.
Witnesses should be aware that once written evidence has been submitted to the Committee it is treated as the property of the Committee. It is the Committee’s intention to place written papers on its website, and they may subsequently be printed with the report.
It is normal practice for the National Assembly to publish evidence provided to a committee. Consequently your response may appear in a report or in supplementary evidence to a report. The National Assembly will not publish information which it considers to be personal data.
In the event of a request for information submitted under UK legislation, it may be necessary to disclose the information that you provide. This may include information which has previously been removed by the National Assembly for publication purposes.
If you are providing any information, other than personal data, which you feel is not suitable for public disclosure, it is up to you to stipulate which parts should not be published, and to provide a reasoned argument to support this. The National Assembly will take this into account when publishing information or responding to requests for information.
10 March 2009
