Daily roundup: Care applications data, sex offenders' register and age of consent

The number of care applications in England has risen by 70 per cent in the four years since the Baby P case, latest figures show. Statistics released by Cafcass show that there has also been a proportional rise in the number of care applications between 2008/09 and 2012/13. The number of applications per 10,000 children has risen from 5.9 to 9.7, an increase of 64 per cent.

Children are being placed at risk as a result of child sex offenders being able to apply to have their names removed from the sex offenders’ register, a charity has claimed. Ecpat UK has raised concerns over the methodology used by police to decide whether convicted offenders no longer pose a threat to children in the UK or abroad. Bharti Patel, chief executive of Ecpat, said, “Removing offenders from the sex offenders’ register is a dangerous step, as it removes the main method of monitoring to prevent reoffending.”

The BBC has reported comments from barrister Barbara Hewson in which she calls for the age of consent to be lowered to 13. Hewson reportedly told online magazine Spiked that the move was necessary in the wake of the Savile scandal and that complainants should no longer receive anonymity. The NSPCC called her views "outdated and simply ill-informed".

Twelve-year-olds are the age group most at risk of being injured or killed in road accidents as a pedestrian. The Stepping Out report, produced by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts), found that one in 651 children aged 12 was reported as a pedestrian casualty between 2006 and 2011. The authors think this could be down to children being given more freedom by parents to walk to and from school when they reach secondary age.

Blackpool Council has spent £10m over the past three years on homing looked-after children in out-of-authority care placements. Around 10 per cent of Blackpool's 470 looked-after children are placed with carers in other parts of the country. The figures were obtained by the Blackpool Gazette through a Freedom of Information request.

The Daily Mail has reported the findings from a study of 18 primary schools in Kent, which found 24 children were not toilet trained and still wore nappies. One school reported having to replace the carpet in two classrooms because children had not got to the toilet in time. Kent Community Health Trust is now asking school nurses and health visitors to help children before they start school.