I'm not surprised to see a fall in the private law cases being dealt with by CAFCASS, given that on the courses I and my colleagues have recently attended it has been made clear that the judges are becoming more reluctant to order CAFCASS to report on every children case, and prefer instead to focus them on matters where there are welfare issues.

If it is less likely that CAFCASS will be looking into the matter in detail by speaking with both parents, the child/children involved, and third parties such as their schools, I wonder if more parents will be more focused on trying to resolve issues without court proceedings, for example through mediation.