Daily roundup 18 March: Immunisations, children's centres, and runaways

A family court judge has ruled that four children must be immunised after their Muslim mother refused consent because she said vaccines contained pork gelatine. The Guardian reports that Carol Atkinson said the children had a “variety of outstanding immunisations”. Social workers had asked her to rule on a number of welfare issues – including where the children should live.


Wandsworth Council has launched a consultation on plans to de-designate two children’s centres. The Wandsworth Guardian reports that Wandsworth Council intends to continue providing stay-and-play sessions and will “signpost” parents to other services. the move will save the council £1.3m in 2016/17 and £1.4m in 2017/18.


Police in London are receiving 70 reports a day of children going missing from home, research by The Children’s Society has found. A report by the charity reveals that the Metropolitan Police recorded 25,622 incidents of a child going missing from home or care in the 12 months to March 2015.


Obese children who are too ashamed to exercise with classmates should be taught in segregated PE classes funded by the sugar tax, a senior figure at the Local Government Association has said. The Telegraph reports that Richard Kemp, deputy wellbeing chairman for the Local Government Association said classes such as "football for the obese" could help overweight children to eventually rejoin their peers in PE.


Child grooming gangs are carrying out acts of sexual abuse in a network of budget hotels and guesthouses in Leicester, police have said. The Leicester Mercury reports that a police assessment of the scale of child sexual exploitation in the city and county states that children or young people – some of whom have been manipulated via social networking sites, others in person – are often ferried to the locations by taxi drivers.