ENGLAND – Cafcass care applications continue steady rise

June 2013 statistics from Cafcass

In June 2013, Cafcass received a total of 849 applications. This is a 5% increase on June 2012.

From April 2013:

• Between April and June 2013 Cafcass received a total of 2,744 applications.
• This figure is 8% higher when compared to the same period last year, when 2,549 applications were received.

April 2012-March 2013:

• During 2012-13, Cafcass received 11,091 new applications. This figure is 8% higher when compared to previous financial year.
• The 1,004 applications received in February 2013 were the highest ever recorded for a single month.

April 2011-March 2012: During 2011-12 Cafcass received 10,256 applications, an 11% increase on the previous financial year, when Cafcass received 9,203 applications.

Please click here to view the spreadsheet, which, in addition to the monthly national stats, has a tab displaying a breakdown of application and children numbers by local authority for each complete quarter from April 2011.

Cafcass homepage: www.cafcass.gov.uk

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For media enquiries, please contact:

Molly Garboden, Communications Manager

0844 353 3319 (direct) | 07768 796 484 (mobile)

Molly.Garboden@Cafcass.gsi.gov.uk

Notes for Editors:                                                                                                  

• Figures in the above table and graph are provided from the Cafcass national case management system (CMS). The unit of measurement is a care application, upon its receipt by Cafcass from the Court and its entry into CMS. An application can involve multiple children. CMS is a live system and any late entries will be accounted for at the time of release of subsequent updates to this data. Updates to this information will be published on a monthly basis, in the second week of each month.
• Pre-release of these statistics has been made available to the Children’s Minister in accordance with The Pre-Release Access to Official Statistics Order 2008.
• Click here to view previous care statistics releases.
• The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) represents children in family court cases, making sure that their voices are heard and that the decisions that are made about them are in their best interests.
• Cafcass supports or works with over 145,000 children in public and private law cases every year. 
• Cafcass operates 17 service areas across England, with nearly 2,000 employees working throughout 56 offices.
• Cafcass’ role is to work with children and families in the family courts.  The following list provides some examples of the types of cases we work with:-
  • Adoption (public law)
  • Care Orders (public law)
  • Emergency Protection Orders (public law)
  • Residency and contact following divorce and separation (private law)
• Cafcass is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Education.

SOURCE: Cafcass