Daily roundup 16 June: Welfare cuts, classroom behaviour, and childcare review

Work and Pensions Secretary Ian Duncan Smith has been asked if he can find £15bn of welfare cuts rather than £12bn. The Times reports that the Department for Work and Pensions has been asked by Treasury officials to examine child and working tax credits as possible sources of savings. Another option could be lowering the welfare cap to £20,000 despite the Conservatives pledging to reduce it to £23,000 in their election manifesto.


A former nightclub bouncer will advise schools on how to tackle “low-level” poor behaviour, the Daily Mail reports. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan will confirm the appointment of Tom Bennett as the “behaviour tsar” in a speech today. She will also announce a drive to improve the employability of school leavers by limiting the number of “soft” subjects they can study.  


The Department for Education is calling for evidence from early years providers as part of its cost of childcare review. This follows the government's announcement that it will double funding for childcare for working parents to 30 hours a week. The DfE wants early years providers to submit evidence on the costs they have to meet to provide places under the government scheme by 10 August.


A report of the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children in South Yorkshire was sent to 90 people in South Yorkshire Police in 2006, it has been claimed. Dr Angie Heal, a former drug analysts at the force, claims among those sent a copy of her report were high-ranking officers. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the failure to act, reports the Rotherham Star.


Children should be tested for fitness to reduce inactivity, health campaigners have said. BBC News reports that ukactive has warned the UK is facing a “ticking time bomb” of health problems due to a lack of exercise. According to a report by the campaign group only half of seven-year-olds in England are active for an hour a day.


Thames Valley Police are appealing for help in tracing a 15-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy who are believed to have gone missing from a care home in Burghfield Common in Berkshire. Amy Dilworth and her friend Kieran Sampson were last seen at 9.20pm on Saturday at Mortimer railway station in Berkshire, the Times reports.


New internet safety guidance has been sent to schools in Northern Ireland following the death of a 17-year-old. Ronan Hughes from Coalisland in County Tyrone, took his own life earlier this month after it is believed he was tricked into posting pictures online. The guidance asks schools to warn children not to post “nude or nearly nude images or videos” online, BBC News reports.