Local social care services have demonstrated ‘remarkable resilience’ in the face of Government cut backs and demographic changes, think tank says.
A county in the north of England provides a shining example of how to run children's care services, writes Mark Whitehead.
North Yorkshire County Council has become the first authority to receive an ‘outstanding’ grade in every category under the new social care inspection framework.
Manchester City Council has announced care leavers will be exempt from paying council tax until they are 25.
A local authority has saved more than £100,000 and reduced the flow of children into care by 16% thanks to its partnership with an ‘innovative’ charity.
Local government leaders have branded a report warning of the dangers of children being shifted around the care system as 'disappointing'.
Care leavers who choose to start an apprenticeship are to receive a £1,000 bursary to help the transition into the workplace, the Government announced yesterday.
The children and families minister Nadhim Zahawi has today announced a package of support worth £17m to help local authorities support vulnerable children.
Local government leaders in the north west have warned of a ‘growing’ children’s social care crisis in their area.
Should councils be launching their own charities?
Mark Whitehead explores why Barnet has become the first council to set up a charity to support children in care.
Norfolk County Council has launched two new apps designed to help vulnerable children and young people in Norfolk share their views and feelings.
Cardiff University has been named as the research partner for a new centre to find out what works best in children's social care.
Young people leaving care will be asked for their views on their experiences in a survey being sent to local authorities.
A multi-million pound government initiative aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable children and families has been announced.
A new study has revealed that 40% of women who lose children into public care or adoption because of child protection concerns have been in care themselves.
Essex CC will work alongside Worcestershire County Council’s children's services team after county criticised for ‘serious failures’.
MP ‘disappointed’ after new figures revealed number of children being sent to live in children’s homes outside their own borough increased 80% in four years.
Local authorities have been urged to make care leavers exempt from paying council tax until the age of 25. Tom Redfearn explains why.
A London council has been criticised for reducing the care and support packages of two autistic brothers without involving their mother in the decision.
Local government children and young people's leader Richard Watts has backed a report showing vulnerable youngsters are being 'left in limbo'.
Council leaders have warned that children’s services are rapidly becoming unsustainable and are facing a funding gap of £2bn by 2020.
A new company to deliver children’s services has been set up by Sunderland City Council following an ‘inadequate’ rating by Ofsted back in July 2015.
Nearly 90% of directors of children’s services find it increasingly difficult to fulfil their duties to children ‘in need’, report reveals.
Projects supporting vulnerable children will be awarded £36m as part of the Government’s social care innovation programme for children.
Adult and children's social care are the areas hardest hit by pressure on council budgets, according to finance experts.
Local government has reacted with fury after the chancellor failed to address cross-sector calls to plug the soaring social care funding gap.
Birmingham health bosses have drawn up a plan to transform the city's health and social care system in a bid to avoid an estimated £712m funding black hole in the next five years.
Social care for the elderly and disabled could be facing a potential funding gap of at least £2.6bn by the end of the decade, council chiefs warn.
The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) has today raised concerns that social care is approaching a ‘tipping point’.
Six years of reforms to child protection services have failed to make significant improvements, a damning report from the National Audit Office has said.
Sandwell Council’s children’s social care services are to be run by a trust despite Ofsted reporting ‘positive progress’ had been made.
Councils could save at least £186m a year by transforming the way they deliver care services, according to new research published today.
Public service users must play a more active role in shaping the future of social work in Scotland, report says.
The ‘only answer’ to the problems facing adult social care is to bring care services into the NHS, Greater Manchester’s mayoral hopeful Andy Burnham has argued.
Family courts are facing an imminent crisis due to the ‘relentless’ rise in the number of child care cases they deal with, a senior judge has warned.
Sunderland Council has apologised ‘strongly and unreservedly’ after an independent review discovered it failed two teenage girls who died in 2013.
More than a third of school nurses are dissatisfied with council children’s services' responses on at least half of referrals, according to a new report.
Children's services in Sunderland have made 'significant progress' since being judged inadequate last year, Ofsted inspectors have said.
Vulnerable children risk being ‘re-traumatised’ by services designed to help them, charity warns.
Healthcare services are failing to identify and protect children at risk of abuse and exploitation, a new report has warned today.
Children’s care homes are too often viewed as an ‘anachronism’ and they are frequently ‘underestimated’, but improvements can still be made, report concluded.
New integrated care jobs are not necessarily the best way of bringing services together, a leading think tank has warned.
A new Whitehall department should be set up to manage an integrated health and social care budget, a new report has said.
Vulnerable children are being let down by weak leadership in too many local authorities, inspectors have claimed.
Sunderland has decided to set up a new organisation to deliver its children's services.
Hundreds of local authority duties to young people could be removed as the Government seeks to ‘radically alter children’s social care’, according to industry professionals.
Children’s social care services at Sandwell Council could be transferred to a voluntary trust, after being rated as 'inadequate' by inspectors last year.
Birmingham City Council’s under-fire children’s services department is to face fresh revelations in a documentary to be broadcast tomorrow night (26 May).
Action is needed to keep children in care out of prison, a review chaired by crossbench peer Lord Laming has demanded.
David Cameron has pledged to change the way local authorities help children in care with a new regulator and further reforms.
A significant number of local authorities and health services are failing to identify mental health issues when children enter care, select committee reports.
Agile working in social care is all about working smart, taking costs out of the system and being more efficient. Michael White reports.
Former health secretary Stephen Dorrell has been appointed to oversee the transformation of health and social care in Birmingham and Solihull.
A council’s children’s services are suffering from ‘serious and widespread failures’, says Ofsted report.
Hundreds of millions will be invested to support vulnerable children and families, the education secretary announced yesterday.
Children’s homes too often resort to involving police rather than offering teenagers in their care the support they need, according to a new report.
Chancellor George Osborne has been criticised for failing to address the subject of social care in yesterday's Budget announcement.
A lack of national leadership and clear planning is holding up urgent changes needed for health and social care services, Scottish government watchdogs have warned.
The majority of missing children flagged as at risk from sexual exploitation in West Yorkshire were girls in local authority care, The Yorkshire Post has revealed.
An inquiry into local authority run children's social care is to be conducted following several high profile cases of child abuse and neglect.
Government plans to overhaul children’s services have indicated support for delivery of social care at a combined authority level.
New inspections to assess how agencies work together in particular areas to protect and support vulnerable young people and children will be launched by the Government this year.
David Cameron has been urged to set up a commission on the future of health and care systems to help to tackle the UK’s ‘monumental demographic challenges’.
Birmingham City Council has selected the Priory Group to run five of its residential children’s homes.
Only 18 of the new specialist protection orders designed to shield young girls from female genital mutilation (FGM) have been issued since they were introduced three months ago, according to Government figures.
A radical devolution deal to 'reshape' health and social care in the capital has been unveiled today.
Control of failing children’s services will be taken away from councils under radical reforms announced today by the prime minister.
The government’s project to integrate health and social care services is being held back by too much red tape, a new report is warning.
The integration of health and social care in Scotland faces ‘significant risks’ which need to be overcome, according to a new report.
Lancashire County Council has unveiled steps it is taking to improve its services for children and young people after a critical Ofsted report.
Only one in eight cases of child sexual abuse are being detected by professionals, according to a new report published by the Children’s Commissioner.
Nearly 40,000 children faced the death of a parent last year, according to new analysis of local authority data.
Disabled children are being let down by ‘shaky and often non-existent’ public services, a new report has warned.
Councils have been urged to ‘step up their game’ and ensure young unpaid carers are being assessed for their needs by a charity.
Vulnerable young people leaving local authority care are not receiving the help and support they need, a new report from the Public Accounts Committee has warned.
David Cameron and education secretary Nicky Morgan have launched what they claim will be a comprehensive review with the aim of ending the disadvantages many vulnerable children in care face.
Local authorities are reviewing 1,900 cases passed to them by the now defunct Kids Company, according to an investigation into its funding.
The Government has confirmed that teachers, health and social care workers will be legally required to report cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) from the end of this month.
The majority of children's centre managers have reported budget cuts for the forth year running, according to to a new survey by the charity 4Children.
New software to make it easier for social care workers to view information on vulnerable children has been developed for Hampshire County Council.
Just seven local authorities look after 43% of lone children seeking asylum in England, according to new research.
Chancellor George Osborne could deliver a progressive spending review that invests in public services without compromising his pledge to eliminate the deficit, according to a leading think tank.
Councils are ‘picking up the pieces’ following the closure of charity Kids Company with fears tens of thousands of vulnerable young people could be affected.
Health and social care regulation is expensive and ‘cumbersome’ a professional body is warning today.
A council has scrapped plans to outsource children’s community health services in light of new opportunities opened up by a historic devolution deal.
Councils have made good progress in improving the quality of assessments for vulnerable children, but some concerns over child protection remain, a new report has warned.
Council leaders have called for the cost of helping unaccompanied child asylum seekers to be covered by the Government.
Kent County Council has warned its social services are at breaking point due to a huge rise in the number of children seeking asylum.
Services across mid Wales will be cut by a fifth as a county looks to find £27m savings over the next three years.
Councils have been urged to improve outcomes for children in care after new figures showed one thousand vulnerable children have attended three or more schools within a single academic year.
The Government has stepped in to fast-track improvement at Sunderland City Council after inspectors found ‘serious failings’ in services for children and young people.
Councils are failing to support young people leaving their care, with two-thirds providing inadequate services, according to the public spending watchdog.
Local authorities must change the way they deliver efficiency and transformation programmes. The recent MJ/BT round table sought answers and raised questions about what local government can do in its present state.
Rotherham Council has been blasted for ‘unacceptable’ confusion in its health services, almost a year after a damning report into child protection failings.
Children's care directors have issued a stark warning that the full impact of council cuts will take as long as three years to understand.
A total of 21 London boroughs have agreed to unite and address issues around recruiting and retaining children’s social work employees.