05 December 2003  Independent.co.uk By Gavin Gordon and Simon Baker

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Ministers demanded the resignation of the entire board of an official child protection agency yesterday amid claims that it had descended into "chaos".

The Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) was set up two years ago to protect and advise on children's rights during court proceedings.

But a report earlier this year by the Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee found there were "serious failings" in the organisation which was unable to cope with the demand for its services.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, has now written asking the board to stand down so that Cafcass can make a fresh start.

A Government spokesman said: "We are determined that Cafcass will act as a more effective champion for children involved in family proceedings. Steps are being taken to appoint a new chairman and board." The chairman of the Constitutional Affairs Committee, Liberal Democrat MP Alan Beith, said that their inquiry had found an organisation in a state of disarray.

"It was manifestly failing to provide children guardians which used to be provided within 24 hours of a case arising," he told the BBC Radio 4 PM programme.

"The organisation was really in chaos despite the efforts of frontline staff to keep it going." He said that Cafcass had not even begun the support service work it was supposed to be doing and had failed to put in place the proper training for its staff.

It had also had a "chaotic problem" with its self-employed guardians, which led to the dispute going to judicial review. Following the committee's report, the children's minister Margaret Hodge announced an independent review of its work under Sir Clive Booth.