The number of children in Wales getting caught up in crime is continuing to fall, figures show. In the last decade annual reported youth crime in Swansea alone has fallen from 2,044 incidents to 428 last year.

Even by Nick Clegg’s standards, it seemed a bold pledge. “We will make sure,” wrote the deputy prime minister, “no-one is forced to sell their home to pay for care in their lifetime and no-one sees their life savings disappear just because they developed the wrong kind of illness.”

Gwenda Thomas, deputy minister for children and social services in the Welsh Government, has introduced a major new piece of legislation which, if passed, will see carers in Wales have their needs assessed as part of proposals designed to transform social care in the country.

FAMILIES and carers who will be affected by the planned closure of the New Willows respite care home in Newport are taking their fight to the civic centre.

CHILDREN’S social services in Neath and Port Talbot have been compared to Oliver Twist because of the way bosses keep coming back to ask for more.

A CARE home for people with mental health difficulties has been criticised for not ensuring its patients have a high standard of living.

Current BASW Cymru Chair Keith Drury will be stepping down at the Association’s Annual Meeting next month after four years in the post.

A unique project from Swansea Council is providing young adults with training opportunities that will allow them to pursue a career in the care sector.

EXTRA money could be ploughed into education and social services if Swansea’s budget is approved this month.

Radical plans to transform the way social services are delivered in Wales will only work if social workers are freed from a ‘tick box mentality’ and allowed to focus on people, BASW Cymru said.