The words ‘European directive’ are usually enough to make all but the most dedicated policy observer yawn and fall asleep. While most of us were busy preparing for Christmas, though, the European Commission published something different which should make us sit up and take notice. The public procurement reform proposals have the potential to create a defining moment in the sector’s role in public service delivery.

VULNERABLE adults claimed they were subjected to violence, sexual abuse and the theft of their benefits by some of the organisations Wirral Council paid to care for them a shocking report has revealed.

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) is hearing from increasing numbers of social workers facing financial difficulty, with some turning to payday loans with extortionately high interest rates to cope.

Survey of 30,000 children aged eight to 16 pinpoints family relationships and ‘materialistic traps’ behind low well-being

CLS care services has embarked on developing the skills of young people in the care sector through the launch of three pilot apprenticeships in Health and Social Care with West Cheshire College. As we approach an ageing population and subsequent strains on care facilities, the need for the best possible delivery of care services has become more important than ever.

About one in eight beds will be cut at the only NHS mental health hospital in Brighton and Hove. Twelve beds at Millview Hospital in Nevill Road, Hove, will go by the end of March.

Three care homes are to close, losing 120 jobs and forcing 117 elderly people to find alternative support.

TORY leader on Wirral Council, Jeff Green, last said he was “shocked and appalled” by the revelations of the Klonowski report into whistleblower Martin Morton’s allegations.

ELDERLY people will have to pay £730 more a year for a bed in a residential home under a series of savage cuts and price hikes unveiled by county council bosses.

MORE than 100 new jobs have been created for care workers in Dorset. South West care company Sunshine Care is meeting extra demand in the county by recruiting 100 new workers over the next two months.