Social care providers are not sufficiently focused on projecting an image of quality for their sector and have become too reliant on regulators to maintain standards, MPs have been told.

All local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs) will be required to undertake regular checks to assess whether children in their area are at risk of sexual exploitation, under government plans to tackle the problem.

A series of scandals have exposed a lack of understanding of social care in the ranks of both Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission. The watchdogs need to learn from the wisdom of those delivering the service. By Ray Jones.

It is widely recognised that parent and toddler groups provide support while also improving life-chances for children from low-income families. However, new research from the University of Bristol has found that nearly a quarter of mothers’ first-time visits to a group were so off-putting that they did not return to that group. One in five mothers then became afraid of attending any group.

Medway Council has laid out its proposals for cutting £2.1m from its adult social care budget.

Thinktank warns charities of risks associated with turning to lenders to counter drop-off in traditional fundraising income

The deaths of three people who were killed by mental health patients in Wiltshire could have been avoided, two independent reports have found.

Equality and Human Rights Commission says elderly people face unchecked ‘ageism’ from council-funded home care

The government is expected to outline plans to improve the court process for child victims of sexual exploitation and ensure all police forces improve their initial response to cases to increase the number of prosecutions.

A Down’s syndrome man who was detained in hospital, then moved to unsuitable accommodation, had his human rights ignored, an inquiry has found.