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NAGALRO believes that the
new choice of contracts offered by CAFCASS will be acceptable to many of
our members.
Each member will need to
evaluate carefully his or her own personal financial and professional
arrangements before making an individual decision about either of the
contracts.
It is vital that
members’ decisions are returned to CAFCASS by 28 March 2002.
NAGALRO would wish to
acknowledge the difference in tone of
recent CAFCASS documents and the largely constructive dialogue,
which took place during the recent consultations with CAFCASS.
The NAGALRO consultation
group appreciate the encouragement they continue to receive from
colleagues.
At a meeting between the
NAGALRO consultation group and the Acting Chief Executive of CAFCASS,
Jonathan Tross, on 26 February 2002, it was agreed that regular meetings
between NAGALRO and CAFCASS will
take place to ensure ongoing communication, which will enhance professional
practice. The regular
comments and views of members will assist in NAGALRO’s discussions.
As
many members have observed, and we have raised with
CAFCASS already, there is a risk that the flat rate for both
travel and professional time may skew practice because of its impact on
the ability of Childrens Guardians to undertake work at a distance, such
as Secure Accommodation, or where overnight stays are required. For members, it will also mean a more rigid
maintenance of expenditure on travel costs, which individuals can offset
on their annual Inland Revenue returns.
NAGALRO plans to provide members with some accountancy guidance
on how best to achieve this.
We would anticipate a
review by CAFCASS after six months experience of the two contracts.
It will be essential for all practitioners to monitor the effect
of these new contractual arrangements on practice.
The benefits of the
costed case plans and the influence of the local manager on making
child-centred decisions will need to be evaluated very closely.
Guidance
for the collection of monitoring data is essential for any effective
review, and this will be made available by CAFCASS to all practitioners
and managers, after further consultation to include NAGALRO and
practitioners. CAFCASS
seeks the views of Guardians about its draft forms, which can be sent to
Maureen Dillon at Newspaper House by 22 March 2002.
We hope it will now be
fully recognised that this long struggle was not a contractual dispute,
but a professionals’ response, which was essential to ensure the
maintenance of a proven quality service for vulnerable children.
NAGALRO is satisfied that
many of the fundamental principles it has proposed have been
incorporated into CAFCASS’ current thinking, including the revised
conflict of interest policy.
We hope that Guardians,
solicitors, the Courts and CAFCASS can now begin a period of
constructive consolidation of its basic aims, and the development of an enhanced service to
children and families on which CAFCASS was originally predicated.
Susan Bindman
Carol Edwards
Eva Gregory
Michael Griffith Jones
Alison Paddle
27 02 01
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