Busy Bees has strengthened its dominance in the nursery sector after acquiring the UK’s third largest early years group.

Councils in England could save £312m annually on adult social care if they carried out client assessments more effectively, the Audit Commission says.

BASW has countered a report by public spending watchdog The Audit Commission, which suggests the adult social care funding gap could be plugged by using unqualified staff to complete assessments, with a reminder that cheaper doesn’t always mean better.

Cornwall has been chosen to pilot a new £400,000 scheme to help keep mentally ill people who have been arrested out of the criminal justice system.

ELDERLY and disabled people in Knutsford were handed a shock this morning, Friday, after a company that helps to care for them went bust.

A MERSEYSIDE man has battled for 10 years to try to reclaim the cost of his mum’s care. After having several strokes which eventually left her paralysed down one side, Phil Newton’s mum Evelyn was taken into a nursing home where she was cared for until she died in June 2005 aged 83.

Trade union Unison has lambasted the Audit Commission for ‘peddling a dangerous myth’ in suggesting councils could easily make £300m savings from care assessment efficiencies.

New research released today by Bupa Care Homes has revealed that millions of people don’t feel equipped to support a friend or relative suffering from dementia.

Inspectors say social services, schools and health professionals must do more to ensure disabled children are not overlooked

MORE money will be paid back to disabled people who were overcharged by council bosses. The repayments, which will now date back to 1997, bring the total reimbursed to those “financially abused” by Wirral council to just under £700,000.