Cafcass Cymru Advisory Committee meeting minutes: 5 March 2024

• Tracey Holdsworth (Chair), NSPCC Cymru 
• Lauren Shepherd, 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 
• Gareth Jenkins, Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru (ADSS) Representative 
• HHJ Jayne Scannell, Judiciary 
• Neil Pring, HMCTS 
• Samantha Williams, Learning Disability Wales 
• Nigel Brown, Cafcass Cymru 
• Jane Smith, Cafcass Cymru 
• Lydia Hall-Mulvaney, Cafcass Cymru (Secretariat)

Apologies were received from:

• Sharon Lovell, National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) 
• Sarah Coldrick, Association of Fostering and Adoption (AFA) Cymru 
• Sean O’Neill, Children in Wales 
• Mike Clark, TGP Cymru 
• Donna Mulhern, HMCTS 
• De Litchfield, Cafcass Cymru 
• Matthew Pinnell, Cafcass Cymru

Members agreed the minutes of the meeting on 7 November 2023 were an accurate record and there were no matters arising.

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

• Mystery Shopper event which took place in June and July 2023
• Overview on the FJYPB’s priorities for 2024
• Update on upcoming events the FJYPB are participating in; such as a Judicial Conference in Denmark, contributing on new animation videos for Cafcass England and supporting a Reading University led research group on children’s experiences of court proceedings where there are allegations of child sexual abuse. 

The Chair and members of the Advisory Committee thanked Aiden and Milo for their excellent presentation and wished them well for the Judicial conference in Denmark.

Nigel and HHJ Scannell provided a comprehensive update on the Pathfinder pilot in North Wales and also the upcoming roll-out in South East Wales. 

Nigel advised that Pathfinder is going well in North Wales and the pilot has been extended for a further year. Pathfinder is due to roll-out in South East Wales from 29th April and efforts are being made to ensure that everyone is in the best place possible when it launches. NB highlighted that we have been successful in recruiting to the temporary posts funded by MoJ. 

HHJ Scannell advised that the Judiciary are preparing for the roll-out and extensive training has been taking place to ensure that it will be a success. HHJ Scannell advised that the Judiciary are looking forward to the roll-out and it is likely to be incorporated into wider practice in England and Wales. 

Discussion followed and Nigel & HHJ Scannell responded to questions raised by committee members.

Jane Smith joined the meeting to present an update on Cafcass Cymru’s Draft Practice Framework. The framework will be a resource for practitioners and also a public facing document. The framework reflects Cafcass Cymru’s core values and how we will embed them into our practice. 

Jane advised that the framework has already been shared with the FJYPB and we have received positive feedback from them. The framework will next be going to design and translation, there will be articles written in the internal newsletter about the launch and it will be added to our induction handbooks & both internal intranet and external internet pages. 

Discussion followed and Jane responded to questions raised by committee members. Samantha Williams provided several free resources via the Teams chat on guidance for social workers where the parent has a learning disability.

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

The next meeting of the committee will be on 18 July between 16:00 - 17:30 via Teams.