George Osborne has announced an extra £2bn of funding for social care, as part of his Comprehensive Spending Review.

The government plans to spend £470m over the next four years building the capacity of the voluntary sector to deliver the Big Society, it announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

The government has pledged to protect cash for Sure Start, encourage more early years providers into the market and introduce a new and simplified early intervention grant.

Children in care in the Isle of Man could be suffering because improvements to social services have been too slow, according to MHK Chris Robertshaw.

300,000 more elderly will need care in next four years – and so will 70,000 more people of working age

WIRRAL’S director of adult social services is to retire after six years’ service. John Webb, who joined Wirral Council in 2004 and became director of adult social services in 2007, is taking early voluntary retirement.

A FORMER care home director has been jailed for 22 months after stealing nearly £50,000 from an elderly resident in order to keep her struggling business afloat.

BASW England’s Mental Health Group has produced a report on the experiences of social workers in multi disciplinary mental health teams, highlighting a mixed picture of support for practitioners, with those receiving excellent backing overshadowed by those getting nothing at all from their employers.

People working in voluntary organisations and local government are downbeat about the government’s hopes that the big society will produce a marked increase in active citizenship.

EFFORTS to improve Herts County Council’s care of vulnerable children have been boosted by 30 new recruits.