Daily roundup: Fuel poverty, sexual offences, and the benefit cap

More than three million families are likely to cut back on food so they can pay their energy bills this winter, according to a Children's Society survey. The Society calculates that about 500,000 families will be forced to take a loan out this winter in order to help them with the costs of heating their home. The Daily Mirror reports that more than half of the five million families that are likely to turn their heating down because of the cost are worried that their children will become ill as a result.

The number of sexual offences against young children reported to the police has risen by 20 per cent, according to the NSPCC. The charity has revealed that 5,547 sexual offences against children under 11-years-old were reported during 2012-13, while 22,654 offences against children and young people under 18-years-old were reported during the same year.

Nearly one in three households (59 per cent) affected by the government's benefit cap are made up of a single parent with child dependants. Latest figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions show that, as of November 2013, around 33,000 households had their housing benefit capped. Nearly half of those affected by the cap were in London.