Daily roundup 11 July: 'Stealth adoptions', sexting, and summer holidays

Babies whose mothers have voluntarily agreed to them being temporarily looked after by the state are at risk of "adoption by stealth", a leading family support charity has warned. The Guardian reports that a freedom of information request by the Family Rights Group found that 127 babies under six months old - 111 of them under six weeks old - have been placed with foster carers who are already approved as suitable adopters since fostering for adoption legislation came into force three years ago. It is not clear how many have been permanently adopted.


Thousands of children, including a boy aged five, have been investigated for sexting. The BBC reports that figures show nearly 400 children under the age of 12 have been spoken to by police in the last three years in England and Wales.


The summer holidays are bad for children's health, with young people being "plonked in front of screens" and losing most of the fitness they gain at school, research has found. The Telegraph reports that a study found that, on average, British schoolchildren lose 80 per cent of the fitness they build up during term time through "lazy" time off, with activities such as summer camps and sports clubs out of financial reach for many parents.


Teachers' pay in England and Wales will have to stay within austerity pay limits - with another year of increases restricted to one per cent. The BBC reports that the decision will mean another real-terms pay cut for more than 500,000 teachers in England and Wales.


Hundreds of people have signed a petition to save children's centres across Cambridgeshire. The Cambridge News reports that Cambridgeshire County Council plans to scrap four dedicated children's centres in Cambridge - and 19 across the county - in a bid to save £1m.


A couple whose two young children were found with cocaine in their systems and traces of other drugs in their bodies have been warned they could be jailed after admitting charges of neglect. SomersetLive reports that the pair both admitted that between 1 February 2015 and 3 March 2016 at their home address in Ilminster, Somerset, they wilfully assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned or exposed the two children in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health.