A TAXI driver who worked for social services driving special needs children to school has been convicted of a string of sexual offences against youngsters.

Members of the MS Society are calling for the charity to reverse the decision to close its four respite care centres, claiming the plans were made “behind closed doors”.

Social services have forcibly adopted more than 200 children in Leicestershire in the past five years.

A commission on social care funding that is likely to recommend a larger role for private insurance, probably backed by some form of state underpin, was announced on Tuesday by the government.

Ministers have unveiled the membership of the commission tasked with producing a formula for reform of long-term adult care funding, but have made clear that a compulsory insurance system would be off limits.

Neglected and abused teenagers are not getting enough help because social services that are short of resources often prioritise vulnerable younger children, according to research published today.

RESEARCH from the University of York has claimed older children are not sufficiently protected against abuse.

“The answer is clear,” said the health secretary Andrew Lansley, as he launched his commission on paying for social care, “we must develop a funding system for adult care that offers choice, is fair, provides value for money and is sustainable for the public finances.”

A self-harming teenage girl had to be sectioned after she was physically abused by her autisitc brother due to significant failures in Croydon’s social services department, an investigation found.

The government’s just-created Commission on the Funding of Care and Support must recognise the importance of pooled local budgets, an influential health thinktank has said.