Mapping trends in the care workforce using SOC 1990 and SOC 2000

Uses data from the LFS to examine changes in the care workforce from the late 1990s to 2005.The number of people working in an occupation and their characteristics (age,sex, qualifications, and so on) can changeover time. Such changes can be monitored using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. However,changes in the definition of occupations when the SOC is revised can raise issues of comparability. This article uses datafrom the Labour Force Survey to examine changes in the care workforce from the late 1990s to 2005. The care workforceis defined in the article using the SOC.Comparison of the care workforce over this short period of time showed somemarked changes. However, it is difficult to be sure which changes reflect real changes in the workforce and which aredue to changes in classification between the SOC 1990 and the SOC 2000. Economic & Labour Market Review (2007) 1, 57–61; doi:10.1057/palgrave.elmr.1410140

Disabled children: Numbers, characteristics and local service provision

With the publication of the report, Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families , the government has pledged to improve outcomes for disabled children and their families identifying three priority areas: access and empowerment; responsive services and timely support; and improving quality and capacity. In order to plan and deliver effective services, local authorities require good information about the numbers and needs of disabled children, and about the support they receive. Such data are also needed by central government to support policy development and monitor progress in improving outcomes. This report establishes numbers and characteristics of disabled children and the services provided to them, following a survey of all Directors of Children's Services in England

The contribution of experts in care proceedings : evaluation of independent social work reports on care proceedings

Several concerns surround the use of independent social work (ISW) assessments in care proceedings. Some result from the exclusion of this work from a review of legal aid for expert assessments in this field, a cap on ISW fees, and fears about a resulting reduction in the availability of ISWs. At the same time, submissions to the Family Justice Review (FJR) claimed that ISWs cause delay, simply duplicate existing local authority assessments, add nothing new and undermine confidence in social work assessments. It was also said that ISW reports result from parents utilising human rights claims to gain a second opinion of a local authority assessment – and to which courts too readily accede. ... But while strong views have been expressed about the use of independent social work assessments, there is little hard evidence. This evaluation, commissioned following submissions to the FJR, begins to address that lack. It is based on 65 cases concerning 121 children and 82 reports for courts in England and Wales. The sample was drawn from the records of three independent agencies providing ISWs