Daily roundup 19 December: Compulsory SRE, child burial fees and refugee children

Government plans are being drawn up to make sex and relationships education compulsory in schools, with classes covering pornography, consent, sexting and domestic violence, it has been claimed. The Sunday Times reports that the proposals could be included in amendments to the Children and Social Work Bill currently going through parliament.


A council in Wales has vowed to scrap child burial fees after an emotional campaign by an MP who had to take out a loan to bury her son. The BBC reports that Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris struggled to afford funeral costs after her eight-year-old son was killed in 1989. Rob Stewart, leader of Swansea Council, said the authority would scrap the charge for parents when it sets its budget in February.?


Child asylum seekers in France who had been expecting to come to the UK have been told that the Home Office has rejected their claims. The Guardian reports the children and young people, who were dispersed from Calais earlier this year, have been advised to lodge their applications in France instead.?


A transgender teenager has won thousands of pounds in compensation from Leicester Council after an official accidently revealed his new identity. The Telegraph reports that the teenager, who was female but now identifies as male, had previously won a court battle to cut his parents out of his life. But an official at the council accidently revealed his first name and transgender status to friends of his parents, and now the teenager is to be paid nearly £5,000 in damages.


People who are maltreated as children are more likely to suffer from poor health and living standards decades later, research by University College London has suggested. The BBC reports the study tracked 8,076 people born in 1958 until the age of 50 and found those who had been abused were 70 per cent more likely to have long-term illnesses and not own their own homes.?


Thousands of people could soon have to swear an oath to "British values" under plans by a Conservative minister. The Mirror reports the pledge - expected to cover civil servants, elected officials and council workers - was suggested in a major report two weeks ago. Now Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has revealed he is "particular drawn" to the proposal from integration tsar Dame Louise Casey.


A couple in Northamptonshire have been sentenced for child neglect after removing their child from hospital before she could receive treatment for a broken leg. The Northamptonshire Telegraph reports the mother has been handed a 15-month suspended sentence, while the 25-year-old man has received a custodial term.