Daily roundup: Care figures, inspections row and education funding

The number of children being taken into care is continuing to fall. Figures from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services (Cafcass) show that in May 2014, a total of 857 care applications were received - a 13 per cent decrease on May 2013. Between April 2013 and March 2014 Cafcass received a total of 10,605 applications – five per cent lower than the same period last year, when 11,110 applications were received.

The Department for Education has released a statement claiming Ofsted’s chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has confirmed that Education Secretary Michael Gove did not ask Ofsted to halt plans for no-notice school inspections in 2012. Wilshaw had previously suggested that Gove had blocked the idea.

Schools minister David Laws has told MPs that the government is unlikely to develop a national fair funding formula for supporting low-funded education authorities before the general election. He told the education select committee that mechanisms will be in place before next May for a future parliament to introduce a formula.

Parents are more inclined to recommend traditional careers to their children than those in demand in the jobs market, research says. One in 10 of 2,000 parents said they would "actively discourage" their children from digital jobs such as coding, but 38 per cent said they would advise their children to take up law or medicine, said O2, which commissioned the study. The mobile phone company said this showed a "disturbing disconnect" between skills in demand from employers and those valued by parents, the BBC reports.

Government plans to make GCSEs an entry requirement for early years apprenticeships will reduce the proportion of Level 3 qualified staff working with young children, experts have warned. The Early Years Trailblazer Group, made up of early years employers, said the GCSE entry requirement would leave a majority of students unable to progress from level 2 in their career. The group, which is drawing up the entry standard, said students should be assessed on their maths and English standards at the end of their apprenticeship enabling them to study these alongside their vocational training.

Families in London are unsure how they will afford to stay living in their area, a study has found. Research by the Child Poverty Action Group found that families are relying on short term, discretionary payments from councils in stay in their homes.