Daily roundup: Child grooming, health and wellbeing, and youth services

Professionals helping child victims of sexual abuse are not keeping pace with technological advances, academics say. They warn that while perpetrators have become more ingenious in their use of technology to engage with vulnerable children, the training available to professionals has not kept up. The researchers who surveyed health, education and children's services workers across England concluded that professionals are playing "catch-up" with abusers, the BBC reports.

Parties across the political spectrum must show ‘ambition’ and present a coherent view to the electorate on what they would do to make the UK the best country in the world to begin life, according to 23 children’s charities and campaign groups in a letter to The Times today. The group say that for too long government health and social care policy has focused on older people with too little emphasis placed on children's needs. Organisations including the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Barnardo’s, Children’s Society, NCB and Brook are signatories.

A youth hub in Bracknell Forest could open within two years, the council’s youth services lead has said. Bracknell Forest Council is looking at various ways of funding a youth hub as part of its youth service modernisation programme. Councillor Gareth Barnard, executive member for young people, told Get Reading there is a possibility the hub could be built near Coopers Hill Youth & Community Centre by 2016.

Children with crooked backs could benefit from a new treatment that uses magnetic rods to straighten the spine, say draft guidelines for England. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says it is a useful alternative to conventional rod therapy, which requires more surgery. Normal metal rods can only be lengthened in the operating theatre under general anaesthetic, but the magnetic rods can be adjusted in a clinic using a remote control, the BBC reports.

The College of Social Work (TCSW) is holding an online debate about the future of social work involving chief children’s social worker Isabelle Trowler next month. The debate is to mark the launch of the college’s ‘communities of interest’ online platform, which aims to give its members better access to advice, information and live discussion with research academics, policy influencers and practice experts. The debate takes place at midday on 7 February.

Children's centres and youth services could face huge funding cuts, the York Press reports. It says leaked papers show City of York Council’s Labour group have also discussed a £350,000 reduction for the school improvement service and a £115,000 cut for the authority’s apprenticeship scheme in 2015/16. Proposals include reducing the children’s centre budget by £400,000 and for youth services to lose £500,000 in 2015/16.