Shamed Baby P boss Sharon Shoesmith today failed in her High Court bid to prove that she was unfairly sacked. Mr Justice Foskett said the Government was right to order her dismissal from her £133,000-a-year post at Haringey council after failings that contributed to one of

Fresh concerns have been raised about a lack of engagement of local authority social services with the youth justice system. Mike Thomas, chair of the Association of Youth Offending Team Managers, highlighted the issue during a question and answer session at Nacro’s annual conference in Nottingham.

A judge has slammed the social services system in Manchesterl for ‘a startling lack of urgency’ in the days leading up to the death of a baby boy.

A teenager convicted of serious sexual offences against another child when he was 11 has won his appeal to challenge his inclusion on the Sex Offenders Register.

Social care leaders face a “tough year to come” with continued funding battles and the need to develop different ways of working, the new ADASS president has warned.

A SECOND South Tyneside care home run by the company which owns St Michael’s View has been slammed by a watchdog. The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report on Garden Hill Care Home, in St Michael’s Avenue, South Shields, outlined complaints of residents being left freezing in their beds, people being fed the wrong food and trips and falls not being recorded.

A national survey has shown that seven in ten people have no plans in place to pay for any future care costs.

EMERGENCY steps taken to close a Southampton care home were unusual, a court heard. Normally homes were given 28 days’ notice but the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) acted quickly after a series of unannounced visits to The Briars in Thorold Road, Bitterne Park in September 2008 amid mounting concern about the level of patient care and lack of records Carol Payne, a CSCI regulation manager, told the city crown court that she spoke to owner Annette Hopkins about her day-to-day involvement.

Research has found that marriage has no bearing on a child’s outcomes, casting doubt on the utility of the Conservatives bid to reward marriage in the tax system and mend “broken Britain”.

Vulnerable children and young people were overlooked by the three main political parties in their election manifestos last week, disappointed charities have claimed.