Funding should be invested in retaining social workers rather than recruiting new entrants into the profession because of the high costs of training them, according to research.

Responding to reports this morning about four children in Dundee allegedly removed from their parents because of concerns over obesity, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) has asked the media to show greater confidence in social workers and to properly inform the public about the complex and independent legal processes that are followed before any decision to take a child into care is made.

Convictions for sex offences against children under 16 have increased by almost 60 per cent in six years, it has emerged.

BOSSES at a Hampshire nursing home have been ordered to urgently improve standards or risk being shut down.

A CARE home manager has been jailed for a year after stealing from residents in what a judge described as a “monstrous breach of trust”.

The Children’s Legal Centre and children’s charity Coram have amalgamated as from 1 September. The merger is intended to unite Coram’s social-work led expertise and extensive reach to schools with the legal experience of the Children’s Legal Centre in promoting the rights of children throughout the UK and beyond.

Almost two in five Europeans suffer from a mental disorder, with the most common being anxiety, insomnia and depression, according to new research.

Five council-run residential care homes in Leeds have been recommended to close. A city council report proposes the closure of Kirkland House, Westholme, and Grange Court, with Spring Gardens and Knowle Manor to shut once new homes have been built in Morley and Otley.

The government has announced that 37 councils will receive a share of £6m to develop and expand intensive support for vulnerable families and foster carers.

A CARE company has folded leaving elderly and vulnerable people without carers. KDAC has now been liquidated after becoming insolvent.