Social care in the news
Government levy could trigger asset loss
A levy to pay for the Government’s proposed National Care Service could take 10% off people’s estates after they die, Health Secretary Andy Burnham has suggested.
Homeowners face wide variation in care fee help
Widespread disparities continue in the way councils help homeowners who need permanent residential or nursing care, LGC research has found
Councils should offer more care cash
Councils should be playing a greater role in helping people tap into the equity locked away in their homes to pay for care needs, according to a think tank.
Main parties sign elderly deal
Social care experts from across the political spectrum draw up a blueprint for the funding of elderly care
Cost of Laming recommendations highlighted
One proposal alone could cost councils £250m a year and require 6,300 more social workers, researchers say
Sandwell suspends 10 over safeguarding
Action from the Midlands council follows a damning Ofsted inspection of children’s services
Balls warning to Birmingham over child death
The education secretary Ed Balls says officials face serious questions about how a seven-year-old starved to death
Ministers urged to redraw social care laws
The Law Commission launches proposals for a single new care statute saying current laws cause “confusion, delay and inconsistency”
Directors call for better focus on carers
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services says professionals should view carers as ‘genuine partners’
LGA concern at new safeguarding guidance
Government proposals are said to be too long for hard-pressed staff to read and will not compensate for a shortage of social workers
Lib Dems to offer carers a week's holiday
Voluntary carers who spend more than 50 hours a week looking after loved ones would be guaranteed a week’s break under plans announced by the Liberal Democrats
Councils 'judge and fail families'
Local authorities are criticised by families for failing to meet their needs and for judging their lives
DCLG dismisses 'pay as you die tax' claims
DCLG dismisses as ‘groundless’ Tory claims that a scheme to pay for elderly social care in Northern Ireland could be rolled out across the UK
Agencies' forum frames social care agreement
Directors of adult social services welcome an “emerging consensus” over providing social care in the future
Tories boycott talks on elderly care
The Conservatives boycott ‘cross-party’ talks on the future of elderly care - branding the meeting a “Labour Party political ploy”
Unitary withdraws supported housing funding
Isle of Wight Council is set to divert cash for floating support services for younger disabled and vulnerable people into elderly home care
Mental health services for looked-after kids 'patchy'
Ofsted says over-16s in care get inconsistent access to help
Hundreds of jobs at risk at NSPCC
Hundreds of jobs are at risk ahead of restructuring at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, it is reported
Care talks' collapse ends consensus hope
The breakdown of cross-party talks to devise a common approach on care for the elderly and long-term sick is condemned by campaigners
Violence against social workers 'chronic'
Union’s 10-point plan calls for more government moves to protect staff
Analysis: Social Care
Jack of all trades - master of none?
One history lesson Ofsted might have missed teaches that you should be wary of opening a second front when you’re still fighting on the first
Baby P: the good changes - and problems
The aftermath of Baby Peter’s tragic death brings good and bad changes, says Kim Bromley-Derry
Rethinking the Cinderella service
It is a sad irony that social care has been invited to the ball - just in time for the worst economic crash in recent history
Social care funding needs hard figures
According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of UK citizens aged over 85 will more than double by 2033
