Daily roundup: Free school meals, pupil places and child protection

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced that a further 1.55 million infant-aged children will receive free school meals from next autumn. The government has earmarked £150m of funding to help schools improve their kitchen and dining facilities in order to provide free meals to all five- to seven-year-olds. When Clegg announced the policy in September, he said 200,000 children would benefit.

The government is to spend £2.35bn to create additional school places to meet the expected rise in pupil numbers in England over the next three years. The money will help local authorities local authorities to plan and create new school places that will be needed by 2017. The Local Government Association said the funds must get "where they are needed" so that councils can continue to deliver the required places, the BBC reports.

An investigation has been launched by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) following concern that three forces failed to respond quickly enough to allegations made against a paedophile rock singer. Ian Watkins, former frontman of the Welsh band Lostprophets, was yesterday sentenced to 35 years in prison after being convicted of 13 offences, including the abuse of babies. The Telegraph reports that the IPCC is to look into concerns police forces in South Wales, South Yorkshire and Bedfordshire had not responded appropriately to allegations made against the singer three years before he was arrested.