Daily Roundup 15 January: Passports, child maintenance, and tooth extractions

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has written to the new immigration minister, Caroline Nokes, asking that children's passports contain the names of both parents by the time the new documents are issued next year. The Times reports that campaigners say the move would end the distressing experience of mothers being interrogated at passport control if their surname differs from that of their children. The government has said it will consider the move.


The government could write off £2.5bn in child maintenance debts because it fears the money may never be recovered. The Independent reports that almost a million families across the UK are still owed cash by the Child Support Agency (CSA), which was axed in 2012. However, ministers now believe costs associated with attempting to collect the money are too high and the "vast majority" of the debt is "now considered uncollectible".


The number of hospital operations to remove children's teeth has increased again. The BBC reports that there were 42,911 operations in 2016/17 up from 40,800 in 2015/16. In 2012/13 a total of 36,833 procedures were carried out. Doctors said many of the tooth extractions are caused by the food and drink children consume and are therefore "completely preventable".


Details of children in the care system have been emailed to taxi firms by Leicestershire City Council. The BBC reports that the council accidentally sent a spreadsheet to 27 companies while tendering a contract for transporting people in care or with special needs. The authority said it took data protection "very seriously" and has launched an investigation.


Police have arrested 20 men as part of an investigation into historic abuse in West Yorkshire. The Independent reports that the suspects, aged between 28 and 43, were detained following three days of raids across Calderdale and Kirklees.


Internet giants are failing to take up their "social responsibility" in helping to tackle soaring levels of child sex abuse taking place over the internet, according to the National Crime Agency. The Independent reports that firms such as Facebook and Google should be more "proactive" in identifying online sex abuse directed at children and fund efforts to reduce the scale of the crime.