Cafcass section 7 report: what if I disagree?
Our guide to Cafcass and section 7 reports explains how the report is prepared. This page starts where that one ends: the report has arrived, and you do not agree with it.
First, what the report is and is not
Under section 7 of the Children Act 1989, the court can ask Cafcass (Cafcass Cymru in Wales) or a local authority to report on matters relating to a child's welfare. Section 7(4) allows the court to take account of any statement in the report, and any evidence about matters it covers, if relevant, even where the usual rules of evidence would otherwise stop it. That is why the report carries weight.
But it is not the decision. Cafcass's own guidance for parents says the court makes the final decision after reading the report and hearing from others. A judge can follow a recommendation, follow part of it, or decide differently. Disagreeing with a report is therefore an ordinary part of the process, not a breach of anything.
Sort your disagreement into three piles
Before doing anything, read the report twice and divide what troubles you into three kinds of point. They go to different places.
- Factual errors. A wrong date of birth, the wrong school, an event placed in the wrong year. Cafcass says these can be raised with the Family Court Adviser who wrote the report or their manager.
- Missing or misunderstood information. Something relevant that the adviser did not have, did not ask about, or recorded differently from how you remember saying it.
- Disagreement with the analysis or recommendation. You accept the facts but not the conclusions drawn from them, or you think the recommendation does not fit the child's needs. Cafcass says challenges like this must go through the court process.
Keeping these apart makes your response shorter and easier for the judge to follow. A list that mixes a typo with a fundamental objection tends to make the important point harder to see.
Use the welfare checklist to frame it
The court decides contested child arrangements by looking at the welfare checklist in section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989, with the child's welfare as its paramount consideration. The checklist covers the child's wishes and feelings in the light of their age and understanding; their physical, emotional and educational needs; the likely effect of a change in circumstances; their age, sex, background and relevant characteristics; any harm suffered or at risk of being suffered; how capable each parent is of meeting their needs; and the range of orders available.
Most section 7 reports are organised around the same headings. Linking each disagreement to a checklist item, and to the page of the bundle that supports your point, keeps it about the child rather than about the adviser.
Route 1: before the report is filed
Cafcass says its advisers normally share their thinking and recommendations with each parent before the report is filed, so they understand your views. If that conversation happens, it is the earliest chance to point out a factual error or something the adviser did not know. Keep a short note of what you said and when.
Route 2: your written response
Once the report is filed, the court usually sets directions for what happens next. These may include a date for each party to file a statement in response to the report. If there is such a direction, that statement is where new factual material belongs: what you say is wrong or missing, and the documents that support it. Our guide to a statement in response covers the format.
If there is no direction for a statement, your position statement for the next hearing is where you set out, briefly, what you accept and what you do not. Practice Direction 27A says a position statement in a non-financial case is normally no more than 3 pages, must be self-contained, must not include new evidence or exhibits, and must set out the orders you are asking for. If you need the court to see evidence that is not already in the bundle, you need the court's permission or a direction, not a longer position statement. Our list of position statement mistakes covers the common traps, and the position statement guide covers structure.
Route 3: asking for the adviser to attend
Under Family Procedure Rules rule 16.33(5), a party may question the officer about oral or written advice they have given to the court, and Practice Direction 16A paragraph 9.4 requires the officer to attend hearings as the court directs. In practice that means you can ask the court to direct the Family Court Adviser to attend the final hearing so their recommendation can be tested. The judge decides whether that is needed and proportionate.
If the adviser does attend, the process is the same as for any witness: each party asks questions in turn and the judge controls what is relevant. Keep questions short, one point each, tied to the welfare checklist and to the evidence. The aim is to understand how the adviser reached the recommendation and whether they had all the information, not to argue with them.
Route 4: asking for an addendum report
Where something important has changed since the report was written, or the adviser did not have key information, a party can ask the court to direct an addendum report: a shorter update from the same author. The judge decides whether one is needed. A request is usually stronger if it identifies exactly what is new and why it could affect the recommendation.
Route 5: a children's guardian, only in exceptional cases
Some parents ask for the child to be made a party to the case, with a children's guardian appointed under rule 16.4. Practice Direction 16A paragraph 7.1 says this should happen only in cases involving an issue of significant difficulty, and the court should consider alternatives first, such as further work by a Cafcass officer. Paragraph 7.2 gives examples, including where the officer recommends it, where an older child opposes what is proposed, or where there are serious allegations of abuse relating to the child. Disagreeing with a recommendation is not, on its own, one of them.
Route 6: a complaint to Cafcass
Cafcass has a complaints process for problems with the service you received, for example an adviser not returning calls, being discourteous, or recording a fact wrongly. It acknowledges complaints within two working days, aims to resolve simple ones within a week, and aims to complete fuller investigations within 20 working days. If you remain unhappy at the end, Cafcass explains how to take the complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Cafcass is clear that it will not investigate complaints that challenge its assessment or recommendations to the court, other than purely factual errors, and that it cannot deal with court decisions. A complaint is not a way to change the report.
Mistakes that tend to backfire
| Mistake | Why it causes problems |
|---|---|
| Attacking the adviser personally | It moves the focus from the child to a dispute with a professional, and does not show where the reasoning went wrong. |
| Putting new evidence in a position statement | PD27A says position statements must not contain new evidence or exhibits; it may be disregarded. |
| Rebutting every line | The points that matter get lost. Concentrate on what could change the outcome. |
| Using a complaint to challenge the recommendation | Cafcass will not investigate it as a complaint; it belongs in court. |
| Involving the child | Asking a child to tell the adviser something different, or showing them the report, is likely to be seen as putting pressure on them. |
| Posting about the report | Rule 16.33(3) says the report is confidential, and children proceedings are private under section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960 and section 97 of the Children Act 1989. |
A fictional example
A fictional example: a report recommends alternate weekends, partly because the adviser understood a parent's shifts end at 9pm. The parent's new rota, starting before the hearing, ends at 5pm. A short statement in response, if directed, exhibits the rota; the position statement then says in one paragraph that the parent accepts the rest of the analysis but asks the court to consider midweek time in light of the changed hours, cross-referenced to the bundle page.
If the judge follows the report and you still disagree
Once the court has decided, the question is no longer about the report but about the decision. That is a question of appeal, which has its own rules and time limits. See is it worth appealing a family court decision.
Legal aid is limited in children cases but may be available where there is evidence of domestic abuse or of a risk of abuse to the child. You can check whether you might qualify on gov.uk.
Where EvidenceCanvas fits, and where it does not. EvidenceCanvas does not contact Cafcass, make complaints, or tell you whether to challenge a report. It can help you set out your own documents in date order and draft a response to a report or a position statement from them, which you then check line by line before filing it yourself.
Questions people ask
- Does the judge have to follow the Cafcass recommendation?
- No. The report is evidence. The court makes the decision after hearing from the parties, applying the welfare checklist in section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989.
- Can I question the Cafcass officer at court?
- Rule 16.33(5) of the Family Procedure Rules lets a party question the officer about advice given to the court. You can ask the court to direct the officer to attend; the judge decides whether that is necessary.
- Can I complain to Cafcass about the recommendation?
- Cafcass does not investigate complaints that challenge its assessment or recommendations, except purely factual errors. Those challenges are made through the court. Complaints about the service you received go through Cafcass's complaints process.
- Can I ask for a new report from a different officer?
- You can ask the court, but it decides what further evidence is needed and proportionate. More often the court directs an addendum from the same author, or the officer's attendance at the hearing.
- Can I show the report to anyone?
- The report is confidential under rule 16.33(3). You can share it with a lawyer or adviser helping you with the case, but not publish or post it.
Checked on 23 October 2026: Children Act 1989, section 7; Children Act 1989, section 1; FPR Part 16 (rules 16.2, 16.4, 16.33); Practice Direction 16A (paras 7.1, 7.2, 9.4; updated 28 April 2024); Practice Direction 27A (para 7.18); Cafcass: section 7 reports; Cafcass: feedback and complaints; Administration of Justice Act 1960, section 12; Children Act 1989, section 97. General information for England and Wales, not legal advice. Your court's directions take priority over this guide.