Daily roundup: Police records, apprenticeships and child protection

An initiative allowing people to check the police record of their partners is being launched nationally today. Clare’s Law, named after Clare Wood who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in February 2009, has been piloted in Greater Manchester, Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire and Gwent since September 2012.

Employers have pledged more than 20,000 new apprenticeship jobs during National Apprenticeship Week. According to the National Apprenticeship Service, hundreds of companies, including Anglian Water, Fujitsu and O2, have committed to hire more apprentices.
 
Social services missed several opportunities to prevent three children being raped and sexually abused because they didn’t believe them when they asked for help, a serious case review has found. Robert Oldham and Rita Oldham were sent to prison last February for a total of 26 years, the Nottingham Post reports. The review, published yesterday, found police investigated allegations against the Oldhams seven times between 1997 and 2012, but authorities did not believe the children when allegations were made.
 
Children at risk of abuse and neglect in the Isle of Man are not being given enough protection, according to a Scottish social care watchdog. The Care Inspectorate said some of the island's most vulnerable children were not having their needs met. The inspection also found that social workers were often too late to intervene in abusive households, the BBC report.