What is the role of the police in society? Does it go beyond simply cutting crime and acting as law-keepers to include working with local communities in ways that are sometimes characterised as acting more as “social workers” or “youth workers”? How should forces work together following the introduction of the new Police and Crime

Members of UNISON, the UK’s largest union, have today voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action to protect their pensions. The union balloted members including nurses, teaching assistants, social workers, care assistants, paramedics, police staff, school dinner ladies, probation workers and cleaners. Yes: 245,358 No: 70,253 Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON said: “The dec...

Social workers are supposed to encourage people to improve their lot. So why has a Nigerian man been banned for doing that?

Yes, it's social workers again, removing children from their parents on the say so of one doctor and severely limiting the parents' access. It took over two years for the family to be reunited. It wasn't social services who probed the original medical opinion. The case collapsed a week before a final court hearing, after the family consulted a U.S. expert who found no suggestion of ...

Earlier this month, the government appointed a ministerial adviser on adoption whose opinion of current practices has led him to be accused of insulting social workers (by suggesting they are anti-adoption), wading under-qualified into a highly complex area and producing a reactionary, simplistic take on it. No, I’m not supporting his views. Rather, just pointing

The main problems faced by social workers today are caused by society’s suspicion of the adult-child relationship.

87,374 JOBS UNDER THREAT AT 107 COUNCILS AS COUNCIL WORKERS FACE MISERABLE CHRISTMAS AND BLEAK NEW YEAR These are not town hall pen pushers but social workers, school dinner ladies, meals on wheels providers, refuse collectors, home helps, youth workers, across the range of front line council services that are being decimated says GMB GMB’s up to

From the Evening Standard: Two social workers sacked over the Baby P tragedy have lost their claim for unfair dismissal, it emerged today. Gillie Christou and Maria Ward claimed they were unjustly fired by Haringey council in response to the public outcry about the toddler’s horrific death. But an employment tribunal panel ruled that the

If nothing else, the Pope's visit at least means we've now got liberals on record denouncing paedophiles. Only Catholic ones though, the far higher rates of abuse by their fellow liberals in the care or education systems are just yawnerooney. It's all because of The Hypocrisy apparently. Huh? Isn't that kind of saying that, being liberals, you'd expect teachers and social workers to be filthy perv...

Christopher Booker in the Telegraph has another forced adoption story. Or rather he did on Monday, but now he doesn't. ...Social workers were about to seize a newly born baby for no more reason than their claim that it might be “at risk of emotional abuse”. Just for once, because no court papers had yet been issued, I would be able to report this case in detail, naming nam...