Daily roundup: Children in care, sex education, council spending

The British public is less outraged by neglected children than neglected older people, Maggie Atkinson, the children’s commissioner for England, has said. Atkinson told the education committee that too many people assume children in care are “in trouble,” leading to resistance to opening new children’s homes in some areas, the Telegraph reports.

Schools have been urged to teach about consent in sex education after almost a third of young people said they did not learn about it at school. The information comes from a survey carried out by the National Children’s Bureau, which also showed that one in three children would not know where to get help if assaulted, the BBC reports.

Devon Council has overspent on social work services following a damning inspection report on its children’s services. According to the Exeter Express and Echo this included a £6.1m spend on adult and child protection following concerns raised by Ofsted last year. Nearly £300,000 was also spent on bringing in extra agency social workers to meet an increasing number of referrals.