Daily roundup: Funding for young offenders; Birmingham protests, and violence against parents

Funding to allow local authorities to take on financial responsibility for young offenders on remand from April has been cut by 18 per cent. The government’s response to a consultation on the new remand framework reveals that councils will get £20.2m to cover the cost of remand places and treating children on remand as looked-after. They had previously been told they would receive £24.6m. The Ministry of Justice said the reduction accounts for falling numbers of under-18s being remanded to custody.

Protestors in Birmingham have criticised the council’s proposals to slash funding for child protection and early years preventative services. In demonstrations held today to coincide with Birmingham City Council’s approval of its budget, they will warn that cuts to local services will put children at risk of neglect and abuse. “These decisions will precipitate a far deeper crisis in Birmingham’s children’s services than one which is already judged by many communities in the city to be struggling,” said Simon Cardy, convenor of the West Midlands Social Work Action Network.