Councils are facing a £116m a year bill to improve child protection systems and social work teams are overloaded, the Local Government Association has warned.

The cost of implementing child protection reforms recommended in the wake of the Baby Peter case will run into tens of millions of pounds and new rules and targets have left social workers so overloaded that vulnerable children’s safety could be put at greater risk, council leaders warn today.

The Liberal Democrats have hit out at Conservative plans for residential social care at a cost of £8,000 to pensioners, saying its proposals are “unworkable, unfair and unaffordable”.

Contractors in the UK’s healthcare sector could be among those to benefit from an improvement in the industry due to an increase in recruitment numbers.

Children’s professionals have been issued with guidance to better support teenagers at risk of neglect. The guide, called Neglect Matters, aims to help those working with teenagers to better spot signs of neglect and ensure organisations work together to support victims.

Hopes of reaching a cross-party deal on funding social care appear to be dead in the water. The three main parties are due to take part in talks hosted by the merged Age Concern and Help the Aged charity.

A scheme that allows parents to check whether people who have contact with their children are convicted sex offenders is to be rolled out across England and Wales by March 2011.

A SOCIAL worker accused of inappropriate behaviour towards the mother of two children in his care has today been struck off the General Social Care Council (GSCC) register.

Former Haringey social worker Lisa Arthurworrey has won her bid to be registered by the General Social Care Council (GSCC) after being turned down at her first attempt.

Early research conducted on behalf of the Local Government Association by Loughborough University suggests that implementation of the Laming recommendations, made in the wake of the Baby Peter case, will require an additional 6,300 social workers.