Daily roundup: £1.5bn for childcare reform, votes at 16, and tackling drug and alcohol misuse among parents

A £1.5bn package to help parents access childcare is to be announced by government, according to the Financial Times. It is thought a new voucher scheme for families with young children will be introduced as part of a wider shakeup of childcare regulations, that will see staff-to-child ratios relaxed. Eligible families are expected to receive around £1,000 a year of additional support. The paper says that the proposals will be announced “within weeks”, and will be preceded by an announcement next Tuesday on reforms to make nursery places more affordable.

MPs have backed the campaign to allow 16-year-olds to vote after voting in favour of a motion in the House of Commons. A motion that the House “believes that the age of eligibility for voting in all elections and referenda in the United Kingdom should be reduced to 16”, won a vote in the Commons with 119 voting in favour, and 46 against. The vote in itself will not lead to a change in law, although it indicates that MPs are in favour of change. Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams, who introduced the motion, said: "The time has come for a vital step in the renewal of Britain's democracy. Time to let another one and a half million people take part in voting for the people who run the country.”

Nearly £5 for every £1 spent can be saved by investing in drug and alcohol family support services, research has found. A study by Adfam found that help provided to families led to reduced reliance on health services, as well as savings to the criminal justice system. An estimated 350,000 children are affected by parental drug use, and up to 1.3 million by alcohol misuse. “Families who would otherwise feel isolated and alone are able to lead more fulfilling lives if they access appropriate support,” Vivienne Evans, Adfam chief executive said. “They are also better equipped to deal with the substance user in their family.”

Sheffield Council is facing legal action over plans to cut early years services. The Sheffield Telegraph reports that the authority has been formally notified that an individual intends to take it to court due to alleged failures to comply with consultation rules and government guidance stating that voluntary sector services should not be subjected to deeper cuts than local authority provision. A total of 20 children’s centres in the city are facing cuts.

Food banks and credit unions are to be set up in Leicester under plans to help nearly 30,000 of the poorest families in the city. According to the Leicester Mercury, the city's child poverty commission has outlined 66 steps related to education, health, family finances and employment to help the most deprived people in the city. There are approximately 26,000 children from families in poverty living in the city. Deputy mayor Rory Palmer, who established the child poverty commission, said: “That figure of 26,000 is deeply worrying. It is more than a third of young people. We need to do something to help because there is powerful evidence about the impact it has on their lives.”

Politicians in the London Borough of Richmond have raised concerns about the planned merger of local children’s services with neighbouring Kingston. The Richmond and Twickenham Times reports that councillors clashed over the future of children’s services at a council meeting. Plans to merge the services under a joint social enterprise, Achieving for Children, unveiled in 2011, are already under way. Leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat, Stephen Knight said the service should not be privatised. Council leader, Conservative peer Lord True said there was no intention to outsource children’s services to a private contractor at this time, but said it would be possible in the future.