CAFCASS Vs Private Welfare Report

Hi,

My gf has an ongoing case, a CAFCASS report was ordered back in May, to be completed by Sep 18th with a final court date in October. We have just heard that we are a 'low priority' and as such have not been appointed an officer yet, and any visit may take 8 weeks from an officer being appointed, and to that end the report is unlikely to be ready in time. They have said the 'normal' procedure in this case is that they ask the judge for more time.

Without going into too much detail, this delay will work perfectly for my gf's ex, and is completely unaceptable for us. 6 months from the initial court application was long enough without staring down the barrel of another 3 months or so.

I have read that you can pay for a private welfare report.

Do the other side have to agree to this, and do we need to seek the judges approval for this to happen??

It's a pretty straight forward report that requires doing, so shouldn't take forever, and i'm sure CAFCASS have more important cases to deal with.

If anybody has any ideas on how to speed the process up they will be gratefully received....ie could we approach a different CAFCASS office etc?

Thanks in advance

CAFCASS are usually given 16 weeks to do their report,
Not sure if you can have a private one done but highly improbable.
I would say the answer to using a different office is "No",
The office involved will be the one which covers your area and the case would not be taken up by another one unless ordered by the court.

The original order by the Judge was dated 6th May, so 16 weeks afterwards is 26th Aug which is, as you suggest, why those dates were chosen. CAFCASS took it upon themselves to assign a low priority to the report as the children were not at risk etc and they have now written to the Judge to be allowed more time to compile the report. They have yet to assign someone to carry out the report, which in their words means nothing will happen for 8 weeks at least. Our court dates our 3rd Oct and 2 day hearing 22/23 Oct, so clearly we will be lucky if the report is written before the final hearing. It is scheduled for a two day hearing and given the rate Court Dates are booked up in advance it seems it will be early next year before we get a date that is free??
I'm sure i have read somewhere on here that you can pay for a private report through suitably qualified people, but i can't find the reference.

As the children and their welfare play a part to some degreee in the final hearing you usually find the children hearing takes place before the final.

It may be that you end up with a delay on the final too.

T

Everything i have read states children interests are paramount and words to that effect. It's funny as every piece of correspondance i have seen regarding the case only mentions the parents!
I'm fully aware that a delay is inevitable, my original post asked if anybody knew a way around this current delay, in that is it possible to pay for a private welfare report instead of relying on the already oversubscribed CAFCASS office?

If you have the funds, and it costs in the region of £1,500 plus VAT, you can ask for an order that an independent social worker do the section 7 report in place of Cafcass. You cannot use legal aid for these purposes.

I think the funds are worth it, if it stops me being in one country while my gf gives birth to our child in another country. Do we just apply to Court in the normal manner, and does anybody know a good website for finding such services (or is google my choice of late night friend?)