Daily roundup 25 June: Temporary accommodation, childcare, and foreign recruitment

More than 93,000 children in England are living in temporary accommodation, it has emerged. The BBC reports that government statistics show that the level is currently the highest it has been since 2008. The statistics also show there are 2,500 families with children who are staying in bed and breakfast-style accommodation, representing a 35 per cent year-on-year increase.


All young people up to the age of 12 should be entitled to 50 hours a week of free or subsidised childcare, a report has suggested. The Scotsman reports that the Commission for Childcare Reform, which lobbies to improve childcare in Scotland, has estimated the move would cost around £1.8bn.


Buckinghamshire County Council has announced it wants to recruit more social workers from Romania. The Bucks Free Press reports that the local authority, which drafted in nine social workers from Romania in March, now plans to head back and interview 12 more, citing a shortage of candidates in this country. As of the beginning of June, the council said it needed to fill 81 social worker positions in the troubled children’s services department.


Almost half of the children's homes in Wales are failing to meet minimum Welsh standards for numbers of properly qualified staff. The BBC reports that an investigation found that that 49 of the 100 homes in the country are not meeting the benchmark of 80 per cent of staff being properly qualified.


Police in Exeter have issued a warning to parents over the rising use of deodorant body spray fumes to "get high" by children as young as 11. The Exeter Express and Echo reports that empty cans have been found on streets across the city. Police have said it is becoming a "craze" across schools.


A new website full of advice and information for children in care and care leavers has been launched in Bedfordshire. Bedford Today reports that Central Bedfordshire’s Children in Care Council launched the site as a source of information, and to allow young people in care to communicate with other looked-after children.