Daily roundup 7 August: Benefit cap, Southampton DCS and Ofsted

Almost half of households affected by the benefits cap are lone parents with at least one child under five, statistics show. The Guardian reports that critics of the £26,000 cap are calling on the government to exempt single parents of children under five from the policy.


Kim Drake will take over as director for children and families at Southampton Council, it has been announced. The Southern Daily Echo reports that Drake will be tasked with ensuring improvements of the authority following a serious case review highlighted "missed opportunities" after the death of four children.


Ofsted has criticised standards at two privately-run children's homes in Birmingham. The Birmingham Mail reports that the inspection findings come as the council is one year into an improvement plan to turn around its child protection services.


Young mental health patients in Cumbria are at higher risk of self-harm and suicide because of serious systemic failings in the county’s mental health services, the National Autistic Society has said. The Guardian reports the health watchdog has called on the Care Quality Commission to conduct an urgent inspection and has appealed to NHS England to review commissioning arrangements.


South Lanarkshire Council has been accused of breaching international children’s human rights in a row over school bus routes. The Scotsman reports the council is proposing to set the distance at which free transport becomes available at three miles rather than two, but parents are fighting to stop the changes.


Bilingual children in their early years lag behind in English, research by Bath University has found. The Telegraph reports that a study found children under six years old who learn a second language lag behind in their linguistic performance compared with their one-language English-speaking peers.