There has been a significant plummet in the number of care applications made, figures have revealed.
In December 2018, there 975 care applications made to Cafcass - compared to 1,022 or a decline of 4.6% since December 2017 and compared to 1,094 in December 2016.
The last time figures were this low was in September 2015 when 985 care applications were made.
Care applications peaked in May 2018 when 1,300 were made.
In 2017-18 there were 14,222 care applications made during the year, down from 14,599 in 2016-17.
Former president of the family division Sir James Munby previously called for new, innovative and better ways to handle the increasing number of care applications when numbers were rising.
At the time, Sir Munby said the reasons for the increase were little understood and CAFCASS chief executive Anthony Douglas also warned that the surge in the number of care applications during 2015-2016 had become a “major issue” for the organisation.
However, Cafcass went on to secure an 'outstanding' judgement from Ofsted.
Anthony Douglas has revealed that he is to step down from his role in March 2019.
