The cost of caring for people with mental health disorders is expected to spiral, a report says. This is due to a predicted rise in the number of people in England with dementia, the King’s Fund study argues.

Children in divorce and separation cases are being left at risk of abuse because of serious failings by social workers dealing with their cases, according to a watchdog.

A report seen by The Times discloses how a backlog of cases is leaving children vulnerable, particularly in family breakdowns involving domestic violence and abuse.

An Ofsted inspection of the service, set up to to ensure that children’s views were represented in family courts, uncovered a catalogue of failings in the South East region. It found a waiting list of 150 cases, delays of six months for some families, inadequate assessments of the impact of domestic violence in most cases and a failure to refer cases to local authorities where there were concerns for the child’s welfare.

A separate report identified “serious failings” in another part of the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass) in the East Midlands region in February.

People of South Asian origin with mental health problems are missing out on treatment, the BBC has been told. Experts warn it is contributing to the high suicide rate among Asian women.

The chairman of one NHS Trust says he blames “institutional racism” for the “lack of engagement” with the South Asian community. And Lord Kamlesh Patel, of the Mental Health Act Commission, warned the “hidden plague” would grow if the problem was not tackled urgently.

Antony Sheehan, chief executive of Leicestershire NHS Trust, said government attempts to improve mental health services for the South Asian community had not worked.

He added: “We really should acknowledge the impact of institutional racism in mental health and wider health and social care services, in the same way it is recognised in the criminal justice system.

There are now so many Muslims at one of Britain’s top-security jails that religious extremists have been able to form gangs inside that staff are ill-equipped to deal with, according to a confidential report.

Like many nursery school staff, Helen Strange, head of the nursery at Dulwich College Preparatory School in South London, believes that the new national curriculum for under-fives, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage framework (EYFS), has much to recommend it.

The number of cocaine users being admitted to hospital has quadrupled in eight years, it has emerged as concerns grow that it has become the drug of choice for middle-class men.

Dementia will strike down almost a million people in England within a generation and the cost of treating them will soar to £35 billion per year, a major study has disclosed.

Social services face questions about their failure to act after a seven-year-old girl who allegedly starved to death through neglect.

Khyra Ishaq was found with her five brothers and sisters living in squalid conditions in a house in Birmingham. Critically ill, she was taken to hospital but died hours later, while the rest of the children were treated for emaciation.

Angela Gordon, 33, and 29-year-old Junaid Abuhamza – believed to be her mother and step-father – appeared before magistrates on Monday, charged with neglect and were remanded in custody.

Birmingham Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood called for an investigation into the city’s social services after it emerged that Khyra and the other children had been taken out of school nearly three months ago amid claims of bullying.

“There are structural issues here within the local authority that need to be addressed,” he said.

Detectives investigating allegations of abuse at a former Jersey children’s home said yesterday that bone and teeth fragments found in the cellar belonged to children, and added that their condition suggested murders had been committed.

Elderly people are being treated like inmates in prison by uncaring nurses, Sir Michael Parkinson has claimed, as he promotes a drive to ensure patients live with dignity and respect in hospitals and care homes.