Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service error delayed a father's contact with his daughter

What happened

After their relationship broke down, Mr Y and his ex–partner asked a court to determine how much contact Mr Y should continue to have with their daughter. Cafcass wrote several reports to the court outlining its view of what was in the child's best interests. However, Mr Y complained that the reports were biased towards his ex-partner and had not fully taken account of his views. Cafcass told Mr Y that, if he was unhappy with the reports, he would need to challenge them in court.

During the proceedings, the court asked Cafcass to arrange some supervised meetings between Mr Y and his daughter. However, Mr Y felt that Cafcass took too long to make these arrangements.

What we found

We partly upheld this complaint. What Cafcass had said about the reports was reasonable. Cafcass's reports were essentially a piece of evidence that the court needed to consider when it made its decision. It was up to the court to decide what weight to place on the Cafcass reports, and it was under no obligation to follow any recommendations made by Cafcass.

If Mr Y had wanted to challenge the evidence Cafcass had presented, he could have done that in court.

Having said this, we upheld Mr Y's complaint about the delay in arranging the contact sessions between him and his daughter. Cafcass could and should have done more than it did to make sure these meetings began as soon as possible.

Putting it right

Cafcass apologised to Mr Y for the delay in arranging the contact sessions. It paid Mr Y £150 to recognise the frustration he experienced as a result of this delay.