£5m of government money invested in institution linked to Unison in deal criticised by Commons education committee

A new action plan published by the Department for Education calls on all local areas to take urgent action to stop the sexual exploitation of children and young people.

The Social Workers Union (SWU) is very concerned at the attacks on social workers’ jobs, pay and conditions of service which are being mounted by the Coalition Government and are often colluded in by their allies in local authorities.

Kevin Curley used his final speech at Navca’s annual conference yesterday to criticise the “strange and confused” relationships that have developed between charities and private companies.

Social care providers are not sufficiently focused on projecting an image of quality for their sector and have become too reliant on regulators to maintain standards, MPs have been told.

All local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs) will be required to undertake regular checks to assess whether children in their area are at risk of sexual exploitation, under government plans to tackle the problem.

A series of scandals have exposed a lack of understanding of social care in the ranks of both Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission. The watchdogs need to learn from the wisdom of those delivering the service. By Ray Jones.

It is widely recognised that parent and toddler groups provide support while also improving life-chances for children from low-income families. However, new research from the University of Bristol has found that nearly a quarter of mothers’ first-time visits to a group were so off-putting that they did not return to that group. One in five mothers then became afraid of attending any group.

A Down’s syndrome man who was detained in hospital, then moved to unsuitable accommodation, had his human rights ignored, an inquiry has found.

Inadequate ratings handed to settings and local authorities are sparking improvements across children’s services, Ofsted has concluded in its annual report.