Leaders in adult social care have discussed ways of transforming vital services in the face of massive financial challenges.

Detectives were called into St Michael’s View Care Home, in South Shields, South Tyneside, after the death of greatgrandmother Joyce Wordingham, 81, in February.

Social work courses could be taught at Thames Valley University from next year if plans go ahead. It is hoped that from September 2011 undergraduate and postgraduate social work programmes will be taught following The University of Reading’s decision to discontinue its work in the area.

Three senior managers of a troubled children’s services department have left. But Salford council insists their departure has not been forced.

A couple told today of their “nightmare” battle to prevent social workers taking their three-year-old son into care after a council claimed that his health had been damaged by a meat-and-dairy-free diet.

An independent watchdog has recommended government intervention in a failing council after concluding it was not capable of making improvements.

Government is continuing to fail looked-after children by allowing them to slip into the justice system too easily, a leading youth justice expert has claimed.

No mention of social work was included in the Conservative party manifesto published earlier this week. Despite 52 references to the word ‘social’ and a focus on the concept of the ‘Big Society’, the document lacked any specific reference to the social work profession or social work role.

Campaigners are warning that the lives of hundreds of teenagers who run away each year may be at risk after the closure of the only emergency refuge for teenagers in the capital.

The Audit Commission is due to report the results on Monday of an inspection conducted in Doncaster in response to serious concerns over the council’s performance.