Daily roundup 16 February: Year-round meals, public sector poverty, and spending habits

A Scottish council is planning to provide school meals 365 days a year to children from low-income families. The BBC reports that North Lanarkshire Council said its proposal would help tackle "holiday hunger". The Food 365 programme would cover the 175 days of the year when lunches are not served in school. If approved, the council will run a pilot project in the spring break and could then extend the scheme over the summer holidays.


Tens of thousands of children of public sector workers will be living in poverty by the end of next month, unions have warned. The Metro reports that parents working for the NHS, schools and councils may not be earning enough to make ends meet due to the government's cap on public sector pay and in-work benefit cuts. Research by the TUC found that one in seven children of public sector workers will be pushed below the poverty line by the end of March.


Girls start spending more than boys as they enter their teens and discover more expensive shampoo and make-up. The BBC reports that a study found that at the ages of seven to nine, weekly spending is higher among boys (£8.50) than girls (£7.50), but girls' spending then overtakes boys' at the age of 10 to 12 and accelerates in the 13 to 15 age group.


Hundreds of parents are being prosecuted for taking their children out of Kent and Medway schools without permission, figures have revealed. The Kent Messenger reports that statistics provided by the Ministry of Justice show that 646 people were taken to court for unauthorised absences in 2016.


A Bolton social worker has been struck off after failing to safeguard children from suspected sexual abuse. The Manchester Evening News reports that the social worker, who was employed by Bolton Council, was been deemed unfit to practise following a series of failures in 2014. The case related to concerns about the stepfather of a number of siblings who were all under children protection plans.