It may seem that the only thing going on today - in our little world at least - is the government's reform plan for social work - on the back of the Social Work Task Force - and its welter of announcements on child safeguarding.
There is much to keep the adult social care fires burning in areas including homelessness, funding and the future of the sector.
There is much to keep the adult social care fires burning in areas including homelessness, funding and the future of the sector.
Umbrella body Homeless Link has found a marked increase in the availability of specialist services among its member homelessness charities, including in the provision of employment and skills, activities and health services.
The Personal Care at Home Bill - the one that would introduce free personal care at home for people with high needs but is facing a battle to become law before the election - has its report stage in the House of Lords today. In plain English, this is crunch time - the government is facing a suite of hostile amendments - to delay implementation and increase the number of hurdles required to implement the bill, place a sunset clause on the bill (meaning it would cease after two years) and order a review of the government's much-criticised costings.
The government has less than a third of the seats in the Lords and has a number of rebels on its own benches - notably Lords Warner and Lipsey - so the chances of amendments getting through are high. With its final reading in the Lords due on 24 March and Parliament due to dissolve on or before 6 April, there would then be precious little time left to agree a final bill. Here's our latest story on the bill.
And finally, the Guardian has a supplement out today on the future of adult social care.
You may want to read it particularly as it's been edited and largely written by former denizens of the Community Care parish, and it covers personalisation, meeting the sector's future demography-driven workforce needs and the future role of adult social workers.
We also have something from Northern Ireland (drum roll please!). Inspectors have suggested building NI's first high security hospital to deal with the number of offenders in prison with mental health problems.Ministers have given this idea a very cautious response, citing the scarce resources available.
The Personal Care at Home Bill - the one that would introduce free personal care at home for people with high needs but is facing a battle to become law before the election - has its report stage in the House of Lords today. In plain English, this is crunch time - the government is facing a suite of hostile amendments - to delay implementation and increase the number of hurdles required to implement the bill, place a sunset clause on the bill (meaning it would cease after two years) and order a review of the government's much-criticised costings.
The government has less than a third of the seats in the Lords and has a number of rebels on its own benches - notably Lords Warner and Lipsey - so the chances of amendments getting through are high. With its final reading in the Lords due on 24 March and Parliament due to dissolve on or before 6 April, there would then be precious little time left to agree a final bill. Here's our latest story on the bill.
And finally, the Guardian has a supplement out today on the future of adult social care.
You may want to read it particularly as it's been edited and largely written by former denizens of the Community Care parish, and it covers personalisation, meeting the sector's future demography-driven workforce needs and the future role of adult social workers.
We also have something from Northern Ireland (drum roll please!). Inspectors have suggested building NI's first high security hospital to deal with the number of offenders in prison with mental health problems.Ministers have given this idea a very cautious response, citing the scarce resources available.
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