"FM [foster mother] has a hard road. She has to: look after them for yonks, give them good care and then hand them over whilst giving permission for them to love us and for us to claim them as our own. The transition toys (things/toys that are shared in the FM's house and ours to ensure a minute but important sense of continuity) have been fully shared now will be in the kids' cots for as long as they want."

Other news

Many children are not told in advance that they are going into care and are given no choice about where they are going to live, a new report by the children's rights director for England, Dr Roger Morgan, finds.

Lord Bichard, the crossbench peer who chaired the Soham inquiry, has joined Ten Group as an adviser, initially on developing a service for children's services professionals.

Councils spent millions of pounds on foreign trips, including sending representatives to watch 'mini-trampolining championships' and beach volleyball, says a report in the Daily Telegraph

Family doctors will be paid more money if they move to deprived parts of the country under new government plans, according to the Daily Mail

On my radar...

• A powerful blog by Liz Sayce, CEO of Radar, the disability charity, on the outrageous discrimination faced by Jane Cordell, a diplomat who was denied a new posting by the Foreign Office on the grounds that the workplace adjustments needed by Cordell, who is deaf, were "unaffordable":

"Jane Cordell ... could have been an incredible international role model and ambassador for Britain. The decision doesn't even make sense financially. As Charles Crawford, former ambassador notes in the Independent, there are very few significantly disabled people in senior civil service roles. Making the adjustments needed in this case would not open the floodgates. But there really is a cost to discouraging our most powerful disabled role models from progressing."

• Blogger and social media expert Dave Briggs' excellent 10 point guide for councils who want to engage with thier residents online.

• This interesting cross-party plea for collaboration on localism and the big society from the leader of the local government association Liberal Democrat group Richard Kemp, Colin Barrow, the Tory leader of Westminster council, and Steve Reed, the Labour leader of Lambeth council. It includes this paragraph:

"We also realise that time would be wasted on trying to define 'Big Society'; 'Community Politics'; or 'Neighbourhood Development' and that the biggest fault lines lie between those who want to empower and devolve within their traditions and those who do not."

• Channel Four's investigation into what local authorities spend on redundancy payments, and private healthcare insurance for staff.

• The normally unflappable Paul Corrigan, who reaches for the bold type option in this exasperated blog post about the coalition's plans to reduce NICE's powers:

"Many people have said since the election that the government really does not know what it is doing because its doesn't understand the NHS. I have been less harsh with my judgement, but only up to now. If they do take away NICE's powers to analyse value for money for pharmaceutical drugs then it is
They don't understand the NHS and their continued stewardship of it over the next 5 years would put it gravely in danger."

• A raw and outraged blog post from We Love Local Government on the "immoral and dishonest" behaviour of a senior colleague who having belittled the organisation while on secondment to central government, then returned to unjustly claim the media glory and plaudits for its work in creating an (unamed) "nationally recognised" project worth millions of pounds. I'm dying to know who it is.

• The Centre for Cities' analysis of the government's Local Growth white paper.

• The cuts: Labour-run Camden council is making clear its residents know exactly whose fault they are. Eric Pickles won't like it. (thankyou @RichardOsley)

In tomorrow's Society supplement

Zygmunt Bauman, the Polish-born sociologist based in Yorkshire whose vision of humanity is influencing Ed Miliband.

Freudian analysis of the welfare state by David Bell, president of the Institue of Psychoanalysis, who asks whether universal benefits express the better part of our nature

Clare Allan on how we're not all in this together - the vulnerable will be massively and disproportionately affected by job losses, welfare cuts and cuts to public services.

Peter Hetherington on whether Eric Pickles' commitment to localism is matched by his cabinet colleagues.

Interview with Andrew Dilnot, chair of the independent commission on the long-term funding of care.

Rowenna Davis on how training for dementia staff is helping to tackle over-medication.

Exclusive report from Zurich Municipal on how making public sector cuts now could end up costing organisations more in the long-term.

Guardian and Observer Christmas Charity Appeal 2010

Nominations are now closed for our Christmas appeal 2010, which will support charities working with vulnerable teenagers and young adults. Many thanks to everyone who applied.

Our Christmas charity 2010 partners New Philanthropy Capital are now sifting through the 300 applications we recieved. A shortlist of projects will be submitted to a selection panel comprising Guardian/Observer and NPC staff this week. Ten projects will be chosen.

We will contact both successful and unsuccessful applicants once the panel has reached it decision after 10 November. The appeal will launch towards the end of November and run until mid-January.

Events

Transforming Social Care through IT. Finding your way in a changing service environment 8 December, LondonTake a practical look at social care provision, address the changing face of services and explore the reasons why technology is fundamental to the future of care. Register now and save 30%

Information Security and Identity Management in the Public Sector, 3 November 2010, London. Keeping pace with new threats. Hear from Christopher Graham, Information Commissioner and Belinda Lewis, Ministry of Justice

Capital Ambition Delivering services for London in an age of austerity, 15 November 2010, London. Join leading practitioners across London to rethink, redesign and reassess the way services are delivered

Guardian Social Enterprise 2010, 16 November, London. An interactive conference for anyone delivering public services or supporting social enterprises. Speakers include: minister for civil society Nick Hurd; Peter Holbrook, chief executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition; Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive, Social Enterprise London; Lord Victor Adebowale, chief executive, Turning Point; Rod Schwartz, chief executive, Clearly So; Dai Powell, chief executive, HCT; Alastair Wilson, chief executive, School for Social Entrepreneurs.

Transforming Blue Light Services Innovating ICT for the emergency services, 24 November 2010, London.

Discover how the innovative use of technology will improve performance and response in difficult financial times.