- Cultural fit, service quality and flexible approach key to deal
- Littlefish supports Cafcass’ disaggregation and SIAM journey
- Complex transition successfully completed over short time period
Managed IT Services provider Littlefish has been appointed by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) to deliver a range of IT managed services to support its newly disaggregated approach to IT service procurement and delivery.
The initial three-year deal, worth £7.5m, demonstrates the capacity and capability of Littlefish, and includes the provision of 24/7/365 Service Desk; end user and IT support; connectivity; cloud application management; service availability and business continuity; cyber security; service integration and management; IT innovation and transformation; and transition.
Cafcass, the organisation responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children going through the family justice system, sought a new lead supplier who could offer exceptional service quality and selected Littlefish from the prospective bidders.
Following the successful transfer of service from the previous supplier, Littlefish now provides the managed IT service operation to Cafcass, supporting nearly 2,000 users across 35 offices, improving user experience and driving higher levels of user satisfaction. Users can communicate with the Littlefish 24/7 Service Desk using situation appropriate communication channels including telephone, Littlefish Live (Instant Messenger), Littlefish Lens (Augmented Reality), and self-help portal, at a time and pace convenient to them – essential for Cafcass’ many remote workers.
Building upon the governance and leadership of the internal Cafcass IT team, led by CIO Rob Langley, Littlefish demonstrated both its ability to exceed the core requirements and its capability and willingness to adapt to the needs of Cafcass and its users, from the initial engagement, during the competitive procurement process, and onwards through transition.
Cafcass CIO Rob Langley commented;
“Following a thorough competition, we were confident that Littlefish gave us the right mix of reliability and flexibility to partner with for the next phase of our transformation and to support our staff in remaining ‘Outstanding’ following this year’s Ofsted judgement.”
Littlefish Managing Director, Steve Robinson remarked;
“Undoubtedly, this has been our most challenging transfer of service: not only were we taking on first point of contact calls, but we had to refresh every staff laptop over a very short period. This was a monumental effort from every party which resulted in a new IT service for users, and improvements are already being recognised. We will continue to demonstrate the difference from old to new.”
About the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass)
Cafcass represents children in family court cases in England. It puts children’s needs, wishes and feelings first, ensuring children’s voices are heard at the heart of the family court setting, and that decisions are made in their best interests.
Its duty is to safeguard and promote the welfare of children going through the family justice system. Its experienced Family Court Advisers may be asked by the court to work with families and then advise the court on what they consider to be the best interests of the children involved in three main areas:
- Divorce and separation, sometimes called ‘private law’, where parents or carers can’t agree on arrangements for their children.
- Dare proceedings, sometimes called ‘public law’, where social services have serious concerns about the safety or welfare of a child.
- Adoption, which can be either public or private law.
CAFCASS has nearly 2000 staff across 35 offices in England and is the largest employer of social workers in the UK.
