FLINTSHIRE Council chiefs have warned they need to save £12 million in the next financial year, as economic pressures tighten.

A council will have to pay higher fees for residents at four private care homes, a court has ruled. Pembrokeshire County Council had refused to raise the £390 weekly fee it currently pays for each resident it funds at the care homes.

SOCIAL services will suffer in the wake of budget cuts, according to the council’s executive member for the department.

The money Pembrokeshire council pays care homes to look after residents is being challenged in the High Court.

A judicial review secured by four care homes in Pembrokeshire will start at the High Court in Cardiff tomorrow (Tuesday).

The number of children entering the care system in Denbighshire has increased by 58% in recent years according to an internal report.

A COLLEGE tutor has picked up an award for being the best in Wales. Anita Curley, a tutor at Coleg Llysfasi in Ruthin, part of Deeside College, was presented with a gold award in the annual Wales Care Awards 2010.

BASW Cymru is launching a major campaign to resist local authority assaults on social worker car allowances.

THE CLOSURE of two Blaenau Gwent care homes is well under way as residents are being re-homed, according to a council report.

Wales must set national standards for social care services delivery and end the “striking variations” that exist today, a new indpendent report published yesterday has suggested.