Daily roundup: Sexual exploitation, youth unemployment and children's centres

The Children’s Society has called the government’s response to a Parliamentary report on child sexual exploitation as a “missed opportunity”. The response to the Commons home affairs committee report on child sexual exploitation and grooming focused largely on what local agencies could do to tackle the problem. Ellen Broome, director of policy at The Children’s Society, said: “We know that the government is taking child sexual exploitation very seriously, but their response to the committee’s report is a missed opportunity to set out a concrete plan for how they will make sure local agencies fully implement central guidance.”

Youth unemployment rose 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2013, latest data shows. There were 668,000 unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds between May and July, up 9,000 from February to April according to the Office of National Statistics. This put the youth unemployment rate at 19.4 per cent.

Childcare minister Elizabeth Truss has said that only 45 children’s centres – only one per cent of the total – have closed outright over the past three years. She told MPs during a Parliamentary debate that the “vast majority” of children’s centres that had closed since the coalition came to power have “merged or seen management restructured”. She was responding to a question from Labour MP Graeme Morrice, who said there were 562 fewer children’s centres since 2010.

A new book that explores research with children in care in Northern Ireland found high levels of care placement stability. Findings from research by Queens University Belfast included in Comparing long-term placements for young children in care shows that between 2002 and 2007 looked-after children stayed in 99 per cent of adoptions, 96 per cent of kinship care placements, 95 per cent of residence orders and birth family placements, and 87 per cent of foster placements. The book includes interviews with 77 children aged nine to 14 and their parents or carers.