It’s supposed to be lighter touch but it is certainly tougher. The Audit Commission’s first area assessments were revealed this week – and put up on the Oneplace website for everyone to see. David...
Children’s mental health services in Wales have failed to improve sufficiently despite development funding and the introduction of staff in vital areas, a joint inspection has found
Progress on reducing child poverty in Wales has been ‘inadequate’ and the economic climate should not be used as an excuse for shying away from the problem, the children’s commissioner for Wales has...
Councils have warned that the exodus of children’s social workers after the Baby Peter scandal has put some of the most vulnerable people in society at risk
A forgotten army of grandparent carers are living ‘below the poverty line and struggling to cope’, according to a report by the charity Grandparents Plus
Councils have recommended a comprehensive shake-up of services for young people not in education, employment or training, dismissing existing provision as ‘bedevilled’ by bureaucracy
Education Secretary Ed Balls has hit back at MPs who tried to block his choice of a children’s commissioner, telling them they have no veto over major appointments
Birmingham social services department used ‘inexperienced staff with insufficient management oversight’ who did not meet the needs of the children in its care, a report has found
The Welsh Assembly Government has set out further details of an initiative to create a ‘shared responsibility’ across agencies for supporting vulnerable children and families
Children detained in prisons and young offenders institutions are exposed to such ‘dire conditions’ that they are living in ‘modern day dungeons’, according to a hard-hitting report by the Howard...
MPs have criticised the growing numbers of under-14s put into custody and urged ministers to spend more money on community based punishments and preventative measures
More children in care believe they have been treated better than other children than feel they have suffered from being in care, a report by the children’s rights director for England has found
A damning report from a Commons committee has called for radical reforms of the social work profession after finding that training regimes were inadequate
The rising price of fuel has increased the cost to councils of providing services by £239m over the past two years, according to the Local Government Association. Its study predicts that the cost of...
