Daily roundup: child poverty, trafficked children, and Peterborough Council

Almost two thirds of the public believe the government should be doing more to tackle child poverty, according to a poll. The survey of almost 3,000 people by the End Child Poverty Campaign revealed 64 per cent backed the call. More than 60 per cent backed measures including that the government should do more to create good quality jobs, to tackle low wages and to ensure all children get a decent education. Nearly half believed UK child poverty would increase over the next five years.

The UK is failing in its duty to help children seeking asylum, a group of MPs has said. The Guardian reports that the joint committee on human rights (JCHR) has labelled the system designed to identify which children have been trafficked into the UK as “flawed”, because many children who have been trafficked end up in the criminal justice system, accused of committing a crime.

Peterborough City Council’s children’s services has had its improvement notice lifted by the government, after Ofsted inspectors announced the department was no longer rated inadequate. Children and families minister Edward Timpson confirmed in a letter to the council that the notice, issued in February 2012 after the critical Ofsted verdict, had been lifted with immediate effect, reports the Peterborough Telegraph. The council will be required to provide the Department for Education with a progress report in six months.

Christine Gilbert (CBE), the former head of Ofsted, has been announced as the first ever schools champion for the London borough of Haringey. Gilbert, also a former head teacher and director of education, will help drive improvements in school performance and pupil attainment across the borough. The appointment of a schools champion was one of the recommendations of the independent education commission, Outstanding for All.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond is to announce a £87.85m package to help the country's young people into work. STV Glasgow reports that the funding will support an extra 3,000 jobs in small businesses around the country. Salmond is due to unveil details of the package, which will include support for small business growth, during a visit to an engineering company in Irvine.

And finally... More than 4,000 parents, childcare providers and tutors have backed a call for childcare minister Elizabeth Truss to resign. The poll hosted on the Facebook page of childcare network Childcare.co.uk has gathered 4,146 ‘likes’ to date after being launched on Monday. The campaign follows the cancellation of Truss’ key childcare reform of altering child-to-staff ratios in early years settings.