Daily roundup 28 February: Internet safety, spending cuts, and child abuse

Ministers have begun work on an internet safety strategy aimed at making children and young people safer online. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley is leading the new cross-government drive on behalf of the Prime Minister - with a green paper expected in the summer.


Government departments have been told to find spending cuts of up to six per cent as part of plans to save £3.5bn by 2020. The BBC reports that ahead of next week's Budget, the Treasury announced Whitehall would begin coming up with ways to contribute to its "efficiency review".


Police are being overwhelmed by the number of reports about child sexual abuse and need to consider alternative approaches for less serious cases, the UK's lead officer on child protection has said. The Guardian reports that Simon Bailey, head of Operation Hydrant - the nationwide inquiry into historical child sexual abuse - said forces were operating beyond capacity because of the sheer volume of reports.


The Scottish Government has made only "limited progress" in tackling child poverty, an internal government document has conceded. STV News reports that the briefing paper, created for Scottish Parliament equalities secretary Angela Constance, describes the level of child poverty in Scotland "completely unacceptable".


The NSPCC has called on government to make sending sexual messages to children illegal as disgraced footballer Adam Johnson makes a second appeal against his conviction for child sex offences. The Evening Standard reports that at the time of his conviction, grooming through the use of messages itself was not a crime, but the charity is calling on MPs to enact a law made two years ago which would make sending sexual messages to a child illegal.


Children are being exposed to "unacceptably high levels" of alcohol marketing through sports sponsorship and public adverts, Alcohol Focus Scotland (AFS) has found. The BBC reports that AFS has called for the Scottish Government to take action, saying there was "clear evidence" that exposure to alcohol marketing led children to start drinking at a younger age.


Serious road accidents involving young people have risen dramatically in Wales. The South Wales Evening Post reports that figures released by the Welsh Government show the number of fatalities or serious injuries has increased by 15 per cent to 284 since 2012.