An insight into young people’s views on running away highlights the variety of issues that affect them in a report published by Dr Roger Morgan, the Children’s Rights Director for England.

Devon County Council has taken the next step to becoming a fully commissioning organisation for adults’ social services by inviting interest from other professional agencies to run services on the Council’s behalf.

Children in care are to be offered up to 2,000 places at boarding schools across the country in a controversial new scheme aimed at transforming the lives of vulnerable youngsters.

People who cannot work because of  their caring commitments will be given extra pensions credits to help them save for retirement, under government plans.

{mosimage}The Government is to help care providers stamp out abuse by workers by issuing an online step by step guide.

Speaking at the launch of the guide, Care Services Minister, Ivan Lewis, underlined social care providers’ statutory obligation to report incidents of abuse to the authorities.

He said: “Abuse of vulnerable adults in any form is intolerable. We are determined to stamp it out. This guidance will help care providers uncover abusers and help us ban them from the workplace. It is the latest in a series of measures we have introduced to help keep vulnerable adults safe.”

Three months after being sacked, the workers who blew the whistle on the management of children’s homes in Wakefield are facing up to a tough struggle to see justice done.

Thousands of families may be forced to pay “top-up fees” for the care of elderly loved ones due to a multi-million-pound shortfall in government funding.

{mosimage}The first commitment from the recent Our Health, Our Care, Our Say White Paper was delivered today when guidance on the new Director of Adult Social Services (DASS) role was issued by Ivan Lewis, Care Services Minister.

The new role will provide strengthened leadership, work on closer integration of health and social care as set out in the White Paper, and deliver strategic needs assessments. Best practice statutory guidance to help local authorities implement the new post has been sent to social services chief executives today.

A multi-agency partnership is calling for an increase in appropriate housing to improve the health and wellbeing of older people in the South West of England.

The head of social services in Wiltshire, Dr Ray Jones, has quit his job, amid the Who pays for care?’ row between the county council and primary care trusts.