Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS)

4. Ms P raises concerns about Cafcass. Specifically, Ms P raises concerns about the Family Court Adviser (the FCA) involved in her case. She says:

• the FCA was bias in the Section 7 report prepared for the Court • the Section 7 report contained inaccuracies • the FCA was not present on day one of the finding a fact hearing; and • the FCA was unprofessional.

5. Ms P says her children have been moved to the care of their father. Miss P has incurred child maintenance costs and is currently facing legal action from her former partner in relation to these expenses.

6. By bringing her complaint to us Miss P would like her case reopened and would also like a financial remedy to cover the cost of legal fees.

7. Ms P took part in child arrangements proceedings between 2024 and 2025. During the case, the court asked Cafcass to prepare a Section 7 report in 2025. Cafcass assigned a Family Court Adviser in 2025, who prepared the Section 7 report and gave evidence in person at the final hearing in March 2025.

8. At the final hearing, the court heard evidence from all parties and made a Child Arrangements Order setting out how the children will spend time with both parents.

9. Cafcass is an independent public body that works to promote the welfare of children involved in family court proceedings in England. Its primary role is to advise the family courts about what arrangements are in the best interests of the child.

10. Cafcass officers, known as FCAs, are typically qualified social workers with experience in child protection. They do not represent either parent but instead act in the interests of the child, independent of all other parties, providing reports and recommendations to help the court make informed decisions about matters such as contact and residence.

11. Under Section 7 of the Children Act 1989, the family court can request a report from Cafcass to provide information about a child’s welfare and to make recommendations about future arrangements. These are known as Section 7 reports.

12. In preparing the report, the appointed FCA will usually speak with both parents, meet with the child where appropriate, and consider relevant documents or concerns. The report must take into account the ‘welfare checklist’ set out in Section 1(3) of the Act, which includes factors such as the child’s needs, wishes and feelings, emotional well-being, and the likely effect of any changes in circumstances.

13. While the court makes the final decision, the Section 7 report is just one piece of evidence it will consider. All parties involved in the proceedings have the opportunity to challenge or respond to the contents of the report during the court process.

Biases in Section 7 Report

15. Ms P complains the FCA recorded in the report that her sons showed alienating behaviour towards her because of adult coercion. She says the FCA then ignored this and changed the children’s contact arrangements so that they now live with their father and only see her every other weekend. We were sorry to hear about how this has affected Ms P. We can see she feels strongly about her concerns and that her complaint is motivated by the welfare of her children.

16. In its response dated 29 May 2025, Cafcass explained the FCA acknowledged that they changed their recommendations in the Section 7 Report about the frequency of contact. Cafcass states that the FCA explained the reasons for these changes in their evidence to the court.

17. In Cafcass cases, the information provided by a FCA is one of a number of pieces of evidence that a judge will consider in court. It is inevitable that in some cases, one or all parties may not agree with the adviser’s assessment, however, the place to challenge these views is in court, where the Cafcass Adviser’s evidence can be cross-examined, and any challenges made to the Judge for consideration.

18. Ms P also believes the adviser showed bias against her as a mother and was more sympathetic to the father. We appreciate how strongly she feels about this. However, we cannot speculate on the adviser’s motivations when forming their professional opinion. Concerns about an FCA’s professional judgement or opinion should be raised in court. This is the most appropriate place for Ms P to challenge the FCA’s views and recommendations. We cannot substitute our own judgement for that of the FCA or the courts.

Inaccuracies

19. Ms P says the FCA failed to include information about a police case and wrongly stated that there was no police report. She also says Cafcass made many errors in the report, including ignoring the information she provided about domestic abuse.

20. In its response dated 29 May 2025, Cafcass acknowledged that the police were carrying out an ongoing investigation into her former partner. Cafcass confirmed it could not find any record of the outcome or progress of the criminal investigation on the children’s file.

Cafcass also stated that it had identified learning points for the FCA in relation to safeguarding.

21. In relation to the omitted information about the domestic abuse, Cafcass says its investigation identified that in completing the Section 7 Report, the FCA considered Ms P’s witness statement and exhibits addressing details of the domestic abuse allegations.

22. We understand Ms P feels the Section 7 report contained inaccuracies. We have fully considered this, and while we appreciate why one or more parties in these cases may not believe that the adviser has accurately or comprehensively reflected theirs or their child’s concerns, it is not our role to take a view on this, this is for the judge to decide.

Absence

23. Ms P explains the FCA did not attend day 1 of the hearing and feels that if the FCA had attended she might have achieved a completely different outcome.

24. In its response dated 29 May 2025, Cafcass explained the FCA could not attend the first day of the hearing because of other commitments. Cafcass states that the FCA informed the court, Ms P and her former partner that they would not attend the first day. Cafcass also explains that the court order dated 10 January 2025 directed the FCA to attend the hearing on 25 May 2025 (day two) to give evidence. Cafcass says the court decided that the finding of fact hearing could go ahead with the FCA attending only on the second day. Cafcass adds that if Ms P believed the FCA needed to attend on the first day, she should have informed the court.

25. We understand that Ms P believes the FCA’s presence on the first day of the finding of fact hearing might have led to a different outcome. However, the judge decides the outcome of court hearings. We therefore cannot determine whether the judge would have reached a different decision if the FCA had attended the first day of the finding of fact hearing.

Conduct

26. Ms P says the FCA spoke to her rudely during a telephone conversation and made accusations against her. She also says that, on the second day of the finding of fact hearing, the FCA shouted at her in a room, which caused her to have a panic attack.

27. In its response dated 29 May 2025, Cafcass says the FCA does not accept that they were verbally aggressive. The FCA apologised if Ms P felt that they had acted unprofessionally during the meeting before the court hearing.

28. The issue raised by Ms P relates to conversation that occurred without any third party being present. We do not have evidence regarding the telephone conversation, and we do not also have any third party evidence showing what happened between the FCA and Ms P. To reach a robust decision, we would need material evidence to show how we arrived at our decision. We cannot reach a view as to what was said during the telephone conversation and in the room at the court on the second day of the hearing.

29. Ms P raises significant concerns about the FCA’s conduct and feels strongly that we should hold them accountable. We are independent of the organisations we investigate. We are not involved in their day to day running and do not become involved in personnel issues. We are also not a regulator, and this is not therefore something we could ever achieve.

30. Social Work England regulates social workers in England and sets the standards by which they should work. They can consider the conduct of social workers including FCAs, whether they are fit to practice and whether they should be removed from its register of social workers. In the circumstances, Social Work England may be better placed to consider Ms P’s concerns about the FCA. Ms P can contact Social Work England using the details below:

Social Work England Website: https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/about/contact-details/ Email: enquiries@socialworkengland.org.uk

In summary, we have decided we will not take further action on Ms P’s complaint. We hope we have explained the thorough consideration we have given to our decision and clearly outlined the reasons for it.

1. We have carefully considered Ms P’s complaint about the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass).

2. In reaching this decision we have reviewed the information provided by Ms P. Having done this, we have decided not to consider Ms P’s complaint further. This is because it would have been more appropriate for Ms P to raise her concerns during court proceedings. We also consider the concerns Ms P raises may be better suited for Social Work England.

3. We were sorry to learn about the events of Ms P’s complaint and how she says they affected her and her children. We understand our decision may be disappointing. We will explain the reasons for this and the factors we have considered in our primary investigation of Ms P’s complaint.