The new Care Act easements mean that the duty of local authorities to carry out full needs assessments of unpaid carers, and those needing care, does not apply.
A change in social security policy to reduce the anxiety and stress associated with the current UK Government disability payments process has been given strong public support in Scotland.
Currently, unless a medical professional signs a form saying the person has six months or less to live, claimants are forced through a laborious process of form-filling, interviews and assessments.
In 2016 Staffordshire County Council decided it would stop carrying out any assessments except those cases it classified as high priority, because of lack of finances.
The number of children in England identified through a social work assessment as either having or being at risk of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has more than doubled in a year, councils say after new figures allowed annual trends to be analysed for the first time.