Daily roundup 10 April: Food poverty, mental health, and child protection

Poverty levels in some areas of Britain are so serious that food is being given to children by teachers, according to teachers union NASUWT. Simon Kennedy, the union’s northeast regional organiser, has claimed that already stretched budgets from some schools are being used to fund breakfast clubs for the underprivileged, the Express reports.


At least 67 vulnerable young people aged 16- and 17-years-old in Greater Manchester have been placed in adult mental health wards since April 2011, according to figures obtained by the Manchester Evening News. The Freedom of Information figures found the placements were down to a shortage of beds in children's facilities. Mental health charity YoungMinds has called for urgent action.


Staff at the hospital that treated five-year-old Ashya King would act in the same way again if they had to despite receiving an “outpouring of hatred”, medics have told a BBC film. Southampton general hospital was the focus of media attention last year after the King family went against clinicians' advice and took Ashya abroad for treatment. According to the Guardian, matron Kate Pye, said: “If you asked me again, ‘would I call the police?’, the answer would be yes every time.”


Reports involving child sex abuse cases have increased by more than 60 per cent since the Rotherham abuse scandal and Operation Yewtree, the Daily Mail reports. Figures show allegations of abuse have been made by thousands of people since 2011, with almost 9,000 reports filed in 2014. But arrests have fallen by nine per cent, a rate shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described as a “national scandal”.


Potential paedophiles need to be given more help, according to the parents of murdered five-year-old April Jones. The Guardian reports that the couple think assistance should be given to people who fear they are going to commit crimes against children if they ask for it.


And finally, the NSPCC has teamed up with television soap Hollyoaks to highlight child sexual abuse within the family, with the aim of assisting young victims to find help and support. The issue will be explored in a storyline with one of the soap's characters revealing her mum’s boyfriend sexually assaulted her at the age of 15. Jon Brown, NSPCC lead for tackling sexual abuse, said: “Well researched storylines in soaps can help raise awareness of difficult and important issues.”