Beyond the Leisure Centre: How to make the case for active wellbeing investment
This special report from LocalGov and Alliance Leisure makes the case for repositioning council leisure provision as prevention infrastructure.
Social work funding must match nursing and teaching, says LGA
24/04/2026 More than half of adult social workers are experiencing increasingly complex caseloads while resources fail to keep pace with demand, new LGA survey reveals. |
Call for stronger governance of AI transcription in social work
12/02/2026 AI transcription tools are being rapidly adopted across social work but evaluation frameworks are ‘limited’, raising governance concerns, researchers warn. |
Scottish councils face critical workforce gaps
05/09/2024 Local authorities in Scotland are facing critical workforce gaps in multiple areas, in particular in social care and social work, a new report has found. |
Social worker in Kirstie Allsopp referral ‘did nothing wrong’
29/08/2024 The council worker who responded to a social services referral involving the teenage son of celebrity presenter Kirstie Allsopp has been defended by a major social work association. |
Harehills: Disorder 'normal' for Leeds social workers
13/08/2024 Leeds City Council has been urged to improve support for social workers after an employee was injured amid disorder in Harehills last month. |
Safeguarding panel calls for register of home-educated children
15/05/2024 An expert child safeguarding panel has joined calls for a statutory register of children who are electively home educated. |
Social workers’ concerns not addressed, union warns
02/04/2024 Welfare concerns raised by social workers are not being dealt with, putting vulnerable people at risk, a union has warned. |
Cost of living crisis to lead to ‘catastrophic’ winter
07/09/2022 The cost of living crisis will have a ‘catastrophic’ impact with an increase in the number of children entering care and a rise in domestic violence. |
LGPS funds plan to increase local social investing
07/06/2022 Nearly nine out of ten (89%) Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds are planning to increase their allocation to local social investing in the next few years, a new survey has revealed. |
The key role local authorities play in the mental health of young migrants and refugees
07/05/2021 Amy Spiller explains how accessing mental health support through their local authorities can have a transformative effect on young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. |
Social work failings stopped parents visiting dying baby
08/11/2018 A council has apologised for the ‘distress’ of a family who were unable to spend time with their dying baby due to social work failings. |
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Judge calls for end of ‘inhumane’ separation of elderly couples in care homes
10/05/2017 Separating elderly couples when one or both of them go into care is ‘inhumane’, a senior judge has said. |
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Accreditation scheme will make job harder for social workers warns union
04/04/2017 The Government should scrap plans for an accreditation scheme for social workers because it would take up time that could be spent helping vulnerable families, a union has demanded. |
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Social workers removed vulnerable teen from family ‘without warning’
09/03/2017 Social workers in Essex removed a vulnerable teen from the care of her family ‘without any warning’, ombudsman finds. |
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Councils criticise amendment calling for safeguarding and welfare capacity register
07/03/2017 Council chiefs have criticised a new amendment to the Children and Social Work Bill which requires local authorities to maintain and report a local safeguarding and welfare capacity register. |
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Government scraps controversial 'innovation' clauses from Social Work Bill
06/03/2017 The Government has scrapped controversial clauses from the Children and Social Work Bill that would have exempted select local authorities from their statutory duties to young people. |
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New legal protection for whistleblowers announced
09/11/2016 Whistleblowers applying for jobs in the children’s social care sector will be covered by new legal protections, the Government has announced. |
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Social workers reject 'unsafe' reforms
03/11/2016 Plans to allow councils to set up social work trusts could prove dangerous for children, according to a new report from Unison. |
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Government soothes children's services privatisation fears
19/10/2016 The Government has made changes to the Children and Social Work Bill in a bid to sooth fears that private organisations could profit from social services. |
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Whitehall should abandon its social work reforms, committee urges
13/07/2016 Government proposals for social work reform have ‘significant weaknesses’ and should be scrapped, says Education Committee. |
