George Osborne’s package of more than £6bn in immediate spending cuts received a mixed reaction today as trade unions condemned the decision to wield the axe now, while the business sector encouraged the government to go deeper in identifying public sector cuts to reduce the £156bn deficit.

Action is required by the government over the payment of social care personal budgets, according to a representative from the Saga Group.

The coalition government’s bid to create a “Big Society” could pose a severe threat to services for children and young people, professionals have warned.

The coalition government is to introduce a bill that will attempt to devolve greater powers to councils and neighbourhoods and give local communities more control over housing and planning decisions.

Child protection services in Bristol are good, according to an inspection report. The regulator Ofsted introduced the checks for safeguarding in June last year.

THE boss of Staffordshire Social Services has denied any blame over the two children found dead in a Spanish hotel room. Court officials say Lianne Smith, 43, has confessed to suffocating her children Rebecca, five, and Daniel, 11 months, at the resort of Lloret de Mar last Tuesday.