Standards of social services care provided to adults by local councils have shown an overall improvement for the fifth successive year. Performance ratings published today by the Commission for Social Care Inspection show a third of councils have been awarded three stars and for the second year running there are no authorities failing to gain at least a single star. 

Local authorities have defended their role in providing services to tackle domestic violence after calls from the new Equality and Human Rights Commission for a huge increase in help for victims. The Local Government Association called, though, for specialist courts to tackle the offences.
Trevor Phillips, the chairman of the Commission said there was a burgeoning crisis of domestic violence against women that needed to be addressed. 

The survey of income trends for human resources professionals from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development shows that for the first time in ten years, training professionals earn higher than the average HR salary. The survey also found that one of the main reasons HR professionals working in the public sector experience low levels of engagement is due to bad management.
Managers in the learning and development field earn an average of 45,000 pounds.