A COUNCIL official who was the link for families involved in a death probe at a South Tyneside care home is working for the company at the centre of the investigation, the Gazette can reveal.

Government funding to improve the care system and narrow the gap between children in care and their peers will be halved by 2014, CYP Now has learned.

The government is yet to decide on the sum of money allocated to the new early intervention grant for the coming financial year, sparking concern that councils will not set aside enough money for vital services.

Social care chiefs in Birmingham are yet to agree an improvement plan almost five months after safeguarding services for children at risk of physical and sexual abuse were slammed as inadequate.

More than 100 social care users have signed up to take control of their support budget in the last six months.

The government has published the full versions of two serious case reviews (SCRs) into the death of Baby Peter, in a bid to “improve transparency in the child protection system”.

Two nursery nurses have been sentenced to 16-weeks in jail suspended for 12 months for cruelty to a two-year-old boy at a Hertfordshire nursery.

A social worker has accepted compensation from three newspapers over untrue allegations about her role in the Baby P tragedy.

A CARE home worker who stole £10,000 from a vulnerable resident to fund her gambling addiction was yesterday jailed for three months.

A social worker who committed plagiarism while studying for a postgraduate qualification and gave false information on job application forms has been banned from practising.