In a statement following the coroner’s verdict, Plymouth City Council, which runs social services in Plymouth, said: “The coroner found that Perrin died from bronchial pneumonia, with low body weight and dehydration as contributing factors, as a result of neglect by his mother and her partner and that this finding did not reflect upon the efforts of the agencies working with the family.”

A disgraced mental health trust is facing legal action over allegations that it has mis-spent patients’ money.

The new director of social care for Lichfield and Burntwood is hoping as many people as possible will attend a series of discussion meetings into future provision, the first of which take place today.

Tributes have been paid to a tireless supporter of the Dorothy House hospice charity who helped raise £500,000 over more than 20 years.

A refuge for women fleeing domestic violence is to change hands for the first time in more than 30 years.

One of his most famous works told the story of a poverty-stricken family battling against homelessness. Now Ken Loach will be the special guest at a reception for homeless people in Bath.

Staff and parents have blasted university chiefs for bringing the axe down on a “lifeline” nursery.

Jobs and services at Wirral Council are expected to be cut to try and fill a £60m funding deficit over the next three years.

Social Services in Plymouth were not to blame for the death of baby Perrin Barlow five years ago, a coroner said today. Perrin died of natural causes to which neglect contributed, Nigel Meadows the coroner said.

A “Nurse of the Year” is leaving her job because of the strain of working for the NHS in an atmosphere of “mistrust and fear”, she said.