Daily roundup 3 January: Late fines, Rotherham, and child migrants

Parents in Staffordshire face being fined £120 if their children are late 10 times in three months under new rules. The Mirror reports that a letter sent to parents by Staffordshire County Council said the local authority was getting tougher on the issue of lateness by halving the current criteria for fines of children being late 20 times over a 12-week period.


The National Crime Agency has asked for more detectives and investigators to work on child sexual exploitation offences in Rotherham. The Sheffield Star reports that there is a 144-strong police team working on Operation Stovewood, which is looking into historic child sexual exploitation offences in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, but the National Crime Agency wants to increase the number to 200.


More than 2,500 of the 13,600 unaccompanied child asylum seekers who have come to Britain since 2010, the equivalent of around two in every 11, have been found to be over 18. The Daily Mail reports that, of those deemed to be over 18, fewer than 600 have been returned home.


Two police officers have appeared in court in North Tyneside accused of "pouring water over a youngster's head" during alleged child cruelty offences. The Newcastle Chronicle reports that Claire Wallace and Mark Horwell faced two charges each of assaulting/ill-treating or neglecting a young person or child on 6 August last year. Each pleaded not guilty to the charges.