Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment her Department has made of the performance of Cafcass.

The Government is confident that the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) continues to provide high quality social work advice to support decisions by the courts in cases involving children. This reflects the outcome of the inspection in 2014 by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) which judged that as a minimum all children, young people and families receive a service where the quality and effectiveness of Cafcass practice is ‘good’.

In addition, the department regularly assesses Cafcass’ efficiency and effectiveness and holds Cafcass to account for its performance, governance and stewardship of public funds.