The relentless increase in the number of care proceedings in
England continues unabated. The latest figures from Cafcass show an 11.5%
increase in the number of proceedings in February 2013, compared with February
2012, with each of the monthly totals in the period, except those for June 2012,
being the highest ever recorded by Cafcass.
For details see the Cafcass website or Children and Young People Now
There needs to be a plan about what to do to deal with this situation. It is no good the government appearing to stand aside and allow events
to take their course, because, if the trend continues, the resource shortfalls
will become unsupportable.
But, before we can have a plan, we need much better
information about what is happening and a coherent account of why. Speculating
about the causes is not wise. Facts are required.
