A YORKSHIRE council’s children’s services department that was criticised in the wake of what was referred to as the British Josef Fritzl case has come under fire in a new report.

The debates, dithering and disruption about who is in the cabinet have been quite a spectacle. But it is a spectacle with a cost. Alongside changes in people and personalities, there is the linked likelihood of policy changes and changes in political priorities.

The health service faces an “unprecedented” £15bn shortfall which is likely to trigger job losses and service reorganisation as it is forced to get to grips with the “most severe contraction in finances it is ever likely to face”, NHS leaders will warn tomorrow.

The man who oversaw Kingston Council’s social services department for 15 years has retired. Roy Taylor was director of community services, looking after council housing, environmental health and community care before he retired on Friday.

International recruitment firm, Hays Plc, has launched a new arm to address the shortage of clinically-skilled social care candidates.

A care home worker from East Yorkshire has been jailed for 10 months after emptying the bank account of a pensioner she was looking after.