Cafcass's error led cancellation of hearing

What happened

Mr F was in dispute with his ex–partner over the contact he could have with the couple's child. There was a series of court hearings designed to resolve this dispute and the court asked Cafcass to be involved.

Mr F complained that two court hearings were cancelled because Cafcass failed to attend. He also complained that a third hearing had to be rearranged because the judge was unhappy with the quality of Cafcass's work. Mr F asked Cafcass to compensate him for the legal costs he had paid in relation to these hearings. Cafcass refused this request because it did not feel it had made any errors.

What we found

We partly upheld Mr F's complaint. One of the hearings had been cancelled as a direct result of Cafcass's failure to attend. However, the second hearing had not, in fact, been cancelled; it had still gone ahead in Cafcass's absence. There was no evidence that the outcome of that hearing would have been different if Cafcass had been there or not.

There was no evidence that the third hearing had been rearranged because the judge was unhappy about Cafcass's work. It was required because fresh information had emerged in court.

Putting it right

Cafcass apologised to Mr F for its failure to properly consider his request for compensation. It also offered Mr F £350 as compensation in relation to the cancelled hearing.