Agency staff are being relied upon to fill shortages of qualified social workers
Councils across the UK are increasingly reliant on agency staff to meet the growing shortages of social workers, according to a new survey by public services trade union Unison. And it warns that the condemnation of all social workers following the death of Baby P is deterring experienced staff from staying in the profession and putting off potential trainees, leaving agency workers to plug the gaps.
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Attorney general rejects Baby P appeal
The three people convicted of offences in the Baby P case will not have their sentences referred to the court of appeal, the attorney general announced today.
Baroness Scotland said last month that she would consider referring the cases after the sentences provoked outrage in some quarters about their perceived leniency.
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Epidemic of marriage breakdowns overwhelming courts
Marriage must be re-established as the "gold standard" for relationships to halt an "epidemic" of family breakdown which is overwhelming the family courts, a senior judge said yesterday.
Mr Justice Coleridge, a family division judge, said the consequences of family break-up for society were so great that it could no longer be a purely private matter, and called for a national commission to consider the problem and its solution.
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