Cafcass Cymru Advisory Committee meeting minutes: 5 November 2024

• Tracey Holdsworth (Chair), NSPCC Cymru
• Jennifer Gibbon Lynch Family, Justice Young People’s Board (FJYPB)
• Aiden, Family Justice Young People’s Board (FJYPB)
• Milo, Family Justice Young People’s Board (FJYPB)
• Paul, Apreda FNF Both Parents Matter Cymru
• Helal Uddin, Ethnic Minorities & Youth Support Team Wales (EYST Wales)
• Gareth Jenkins, Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru (ADSS) Representative
• Sara Kirkpatrick, Welsh Women’s Aid
• Sarah Coldrick, Association of Fostering and Adoption (AFA) Cymru
• HHJ Jayne Scannell, Judiciary
• Donna Mulhern, HMCTS
• Sean O’Neill, Children in Wales
• Astrid Davis, Chair of Cardiff Family Panel & Magistrate
• Matthew Pinnell, Cafcass Cymru
• De Litchfield, Cafcass Cymru
• Lee Gerrard, Cafcass Cymru
• Lydia Hall-Mulvaney, Cafcass Cymru (Secretariat)

Apologies were received from: 

• Nigel Brown, Cafcass Cymru
• Mike Clark, TGP Cymru
• Sharon Lovell, National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS)
• Samantha Williams, Learning Disability Wales 

The Chair welcomed everybody to the meeting and read out the received apologies.

Members agreed the minutes of the meeting on 16 July 2024 were an accurate record and there were no matters arising.

Aiden & Milo delivered an excellent presentation covering the following topics:

• The FJYPB’s Voice of the Child Conference in which 991 people pre-registered to attend and at its peak a total of 499 joined the event.
• The FJYPB have developed & launched PSHE resources that are available for Key Stage 3 and are now readily available to all schools.
• Practitioner Guidance has been launched for arranging Safe Family Time, which reflects on the personal experiences of children and young people to feel safe & secure.
• An App is still being development to offer children and young people alternative ways to engage & communicate with Cafcass Cymru. Members of the FJYPB have played a key role in this process and have attended several workshops both remote and in person to share their views with Cafcass Cymru and a Welsh Government Business Analyst.
• Cafcass Cymru have commissioned the FJYPB to review sources of information for children and young people, in particular letters to children and online content. This is to ensure that our resources are clear and understandable for children and young people.
• The FJYPB are looking to recruit more members, in particular from a Welsh setting and with public law experience. Recruitment will be open from early December 2024 to 10th January 2025. 

The Chair and members of the Advisory Committee thanked Aiden and Milo for their excellent presentation and for the above successes. 

Matthew queried with Gareth Jenkins on the most appropriate way to promote recruitment to the FJYPB with Local Authorities and Gareth suggested both the AWHOCS & Family Justice Network for circulating the campaign. 

Sara Kirkpatrick requested that a copy of the FJYPB’s presentation was circulated to Advisory Committee members. 

Action: Lydia to share relevant FJYPB information with Gareth Jenkins.

Action: Lydia to circulate FJYPB presentation to Advisory Committee members.

Matthew provided a comprehensive overview of the data and performance reports for both Public and Private Law cases. Matthew also provided a detailed summary of the data sets and KPI’s. 

A large portion of the item was allocated for a workshop on aspirations and timescales of future potential Outcome Focused Measures. An in-depth discussion took place and Matthew responded to questions raised by committee members. 

There was a general consensus from members that while a new KPI was not required, Cafcass Cymru should consider clarifying and identifying what is being captured in Public & Private Law case closure forms, how this aligns with UNCRC articles, who the target audience is and whether there are any identifying trends. 

Action: Reflections on the discussion to be raised at the next Advisory Committee meeting. Further clarity on identifying what information is being captured in Public & Private Law case closure forms, who the audience would be and identifying trends and analysis on if/how Cafcass Cymru capture different data to be considered further. Matthew & Lee Gerrard to take this action forward. 

Action: Sarah Coldrick requested that further analysis was undertaken on Adoption Agency and non-agency information. Lee Gerrard to consider data further.

Matthew provided an update on the Pathfinder pilot in North Wales and South East Wales. Matthew advised that the pilot has been a success and the launch date for the two remaining operational areas, South West Wales and Mid & West, is 3rd March 2025. The whole of Wales will then be working under the Pathfinder model.

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was brought to a close. 

The next meeting of the committee will be on the 11th March 2025 from 16:00 - 17:30 via Teams.