Social work must speak with a united voice if it is to meet the enormous challenges ahead, BASW’s 40th anniversary Annual General Meeting heard.

The General Social Care Council was heavily criticised for a punitive attitude to social workers compared with the other UK care councils. Lily Robertson, who represents social workers in conduct hearings, accused the GSCC of inconsistency in its approach to alleged misconduct, with some people “who have done nothing wrong feeling the full brunt of the care council’s powers”.

One in 10 Britons often feel lonely, and those aged 18-34 are more likely to worry about being isolated than older adults, according to a Mental Health Foundation report.

George Osborne’s package of more than £6bn in immediate spending cuts received a mixed reaction today as trade unions condemned the decision to wield the axe now, while the business sector encouraged the government to go deeper in identifying public sector cuts to reduce the £156bn deficit.

Action is required by the government over the payment of social care personal budgets, according to a representative from the Saga Group.

The coalition government’s bid to create a “Big Society” could pose a severe threat to services for children and young people, professionals have warned.

THE boss of Staffordshire Social Services has denied any blame over the two children found dead in a Spanish hotel room. Court officials say Lianne Smith, 43, has confessed to suffocating her children Rebecca, five, and Daniel, 11 months, at the resort of Lloret de Mar last Tuesday.

Two social workers involved in the Baby Peter case have admitted failing to follow procedures to protect him in the months before his death.

Social workers tasked with caring for a severely disabled girl who hanged herself in her bedroom were poorly trained and overworked, a report found today.

In his keynote speech to the BASW annual conference, chief executive Hilton Dawson paid tribute to the thousands of professionals who stood up for fact that every social worker across the UK should have access to a College of Social Work.