Daily roundup: Children's bill, child protection, and youth offending

The government has extended the period of time the Children and Families Bill will be discussed by Parliament. The bill, which is due to complete Report stage in the House of Lords next week, was due to be finalised by 4 February. But children's minister Edward Timpson has introduced a measure that will extend discussion in the Commons on it for a further six weeks, with the bill now due to receive Royal Assent by 21 March.

More could have been done to help three children who were found drowned in their family after their 23-year-old mother fell to her death from a car park last April, a serious case review has found. The BBC reports that the children had been subject to a child protection plan for neglect since 2011. A serious case review found the deaths were “completely unexpected", but more decisive action could have helped.

Youth offending work in Wrexham had made substantial progress, an inspectors have found. A Probation Inspectorate report of the town’s youth justice service found that work to reduce reoffending was satisfactory, assessments and plans were good, pre-sentence reports were high quality and concise, and caseworkers had access to a broad range of interventions which they delivered well.