Daily roundup: 'Daniel's law', child protection, and Teather remarks

Children's minister Edward Timpson has ruled out government support for a so-called "Daniel's Law" that would place a legal duty on social workers, doctors and school teachers to report child abuse, ITV News reports. He said: "Mandatory reporting is not the answer. Guidance is already crystal clear that professionals should refer immediately to social care when they are concerned about a child.”

One-third of councils previously judged by inspectors to have child protection weaknesses are still failing to meet minimum requirements, it has emerged. Figures published by the BBC show that 50 councils in England have been re-inspected by Ofsted over the past 16 months after earlier inspections had found "significant weaknesses".

Conservative MP Tim Loughton has suggested that Sarah Teather was a poor families minister because she does not have any children. Former children's minister Loughton, and Lib Dem MP Teather, were colleagues at the Department for Education (DfE) before being removed in the 2012 reshuffle. Addressing a recent meeting of Conservative activists, Loughton is reported by The Telegraph as having said that his support for policies such as a married couples’ tax break had been frustrated by Teather. “The person who was actually in charge of family policy among the ministerial team at the DfE was Sarah Teather. Which was a bit difficult because she didn't really believe in family. She certainly didn't produce one of her own. So it became a bit of a family-free zone.”

Tower Hamlets has appointed Robert McCulloch-Graham as its new director for education, social care and wellbeing. McCulloch-Graham will join the east London council in October, taking over from interim director Anne Canning. He has held two previous DCS positions and is a former adviser to the government’s Troubled Families Unit.

The Children’s Commissioner for England has published good practice guidelines to help health services handle complaints from children and young people. The Common Principles for a Child Friendly Complaints Process have been developed with health services after young people highlighted problems with existing complaints procedures used in the NHS.

There is a lack of co-ordinated and systemic support from academic institutions given to students who have caring responsibilities, research by the National Union of Students has found. Two-thirds of student carers surveyed regularly worry about meeting basic living expenses and 56 per cent seriously considered leaving their study course. Respondents thought it unfair that full time students were not eligible to receive the Carers Allowance.