Daily roundup 15 March: Child refugees, school places and job readiness

New Home Office criteria to fill the last 150 places under the Dubs scheme to bring lone refugee children in Europe to Britain have been sharply criticised by charities and campaigners. The Guardian reports that the department has said only children who arrived in Europe before 20 March 2016 will be eligible for the remaining places before the scheme is closed in April.


A council leader has vowed to tackle "school place cheat" parents who temporarily move to the borough to get their children in the best schools. The Southend Echo reports that John Lamb, leader of Southend Council, spoke out during a cabinet council meeting yesterday. He said: "We need to look at the people who move into the area to get the children into the school they want and then move out again and then don't contribute through council tax or anything."


Half of employers don't think graduates have the skills to start work. The BBC reports that the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) spoke to 174 organisations about the quality of candidates straight out of university. Chief executive of the AGR, Stephen Isherwood, says people skills and a "fundamental understanding" of the world of work are often lacking.


A new initiative to encourage and support more Muslims to become foster carers has launched. The Muslim Fostering Project will be run by fostering charity, The Fostering Network, and the prominent community development charity, Mercy Mission UK. The charities will undertake new research into the extent of the challenges around recruiting and retaining Muslim foster carers, and will also deliver community outreach aimed at increasing the number of Muslim foster families.


A study that helps children diagnosed with delays in talking has been boosted by a six-figure sum. The £314,711 grant from the Nuffield Foundation has been handed to the Solent NHS Trust to work in conjunction with specialist speech and language researchers from the University of Portsmouth. Together they will run a new treatment programme for pre-school children with speech and language needs - helping around 160 families.