Action on dementia care is not still not progressing at a suitable pace, according to MPs. The Commons Public Accounts Committee report has claimed there is a lack of direction, despite government vows to make it a care priority.

Employers of social workers will be expected to conduct a “health check” of the support they offer employees, under a programme of reform for social work practice in England announced today.

The government conceded that its eye-catching bill to provide free care at home for the vulnerable will have to wait until after the election after peers inflicted a series of defeats.

A CATHOLIC adoption agency has won a landmark legal battle against laws which forced it to place children with gay couples.

The author of a review of Jersey’s child protection system, which was developed into an action plan, has been asked to check-up on the States’ work.

A mother has won a 13-year battle against a council who wrongly accused her of abusing her baby son – when he suffered from brittle bone disease.

A disgraced care worker at a Great Yarmouth nursing home, who was convicted of forcing a 72-year-old resident suffering from Alzheimer’s disease to perform a sex act, was last night starting an eight-year jail sentence.

Children’s sector leaders have criticised the government’s attempts to improve guidance on the way councils, police and health trusts work together to safeguard children.

The government has pledged £23m to support improvements in child protection arrangements and reduce pressure on frontline social workers in England.

Ed Balls has announced plans to make reports on child deaths more open but has stopped short of demanding that they be published in full.