Function and Purpose of the FJC

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Alastair Patterson

Dear Family Justice Council,

I would like to know the function and purpose of the FJC, the authority by which it is constituted and its terms of reference.

Yours faithfully,

Alastair Patterson

Clark, Alex (RCJ), Family Justice Council

Dear Mr Patterson,

The purpose of the Family Justice Council is to provide advice to the
President of the Family Division and to ministers on the operation and
reform of the family justice system. The Council is an inter-disciplinary
body and has representatives of all the key professions that work in the
family justice system including paediatricians, solicitors, social workers,
barristers, judges, psychologists, Cafcass officers and relevant officials.
The Council advises on proposals from Government to reform the family
justice system and provides advice to the President of the Family Division
on practice directions.

The Family Justice Council is an advisory, non-statutory Non-Departmental
Public Body. Its members are not remunerated for their work.

The terms of reference of the Family Justice Council are:

1. to promote an inter-disciplinary approach to family justice
2. to monitor how effectively the system delivers the service the Government
and the public need and,
3. to advise on reforms necessary for continuous improvement.

It is specifically charged with:

Promoting improved inter-disciplinary working across the family justice
system through discussion and co-ordination between all agencies
identifying and disseminating best practice throughout the family justice
system by facilitating an exchange of information between local family
justice councils and the national Council, and by identifying priorities
for, and encouraging the conduct of, research
providing guidance and direction to achieve consistency of practice
throughout the family justice system and submitting proposals for new
practice directions where appropriate, and
providing advice and making recommendations to government on changes to
legislation, practice and procedure, which will improve the workings of the
family justice system.

The Family Justice Council was established in 2005 following a public
consultation on inter-disciplinary working in the family justice system. The
decision to establish the Council was taken by the Lord Chancellor, under
executive powers, of the day. The Council publishes an annual report and
accounts, copies of which are placed in the libraries of both Houses of
Parliament. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice is the
accounting officer for expenditure incurred by the Family Justice Council.
MoJ ministers are accountable to Parliament for the activities of the Family
Justice Council.

I hope this includes all the information you wanted. If anything is unclear
please do not hesitate to get back to me.

Regards

Alex Clark
Secretary to the Family Justice Council
E201
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London WC2A 2LL

0207 947 7041

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Alastair Patterson

Dear Clark, Alex (RCJ),

Thank-you for your full complete response to my enquiry. However,I would most grateful if you could:
i) describe how the FJC "monitor[s] how effectively the system delivers the service"
and
ii) what exactly is that service "the Government and the public need".

Thanking you in anticipation.

Yours sincerely,

Alastair Patterson

Clark, Alex (RCJ), Family Justice Council

Dear Mr Patterson,

i)The FJC monitors the performance of the family justice system using
management information provided by HMCS (regarding the performance of the
courts, the MoJ (which publishes judicial statistics and a raft of other
indicators) , Cafcass and the DfE (regarding local authority social work
case loads). The national FJC receives regular feedback from the 39 Local
FJCs across England and Wales which provide anecdotal and statistical
evidence of issues in their local areas. The local FJCs are a valuable
source of information on how the system is working on the ground. The
membership of the local FJCs reflects that of the national FJC.

The FJC also funds small research projects designed to look at particular
aspects of how the system performs e.g. the quality of expert reports used
in the family courts.

ii) The FJC considers that the service that 'the Government and the public
needs' from the family justice system is that appropriate decisions, which
best meet the needs of the children involved, are taken in cases within a
reasonable timescale and at an affordable cost both to the litigants and to
the tax payer.

Regards

Alex Clark
Secretary to the Family Justice Council

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