Daily roundup 22 February: Reading, child protection, and haircuts

The proportion of toddlers being read to every day has dropped by a fifth over the past five years, according to research warning that the decline is a significant threat to child development. The Guardian reports that the annual Understanding the Children's Book Consumer survey from Nielsen Book Research interviewed 1,596 parents of 0- to 13-year-olds and 417 14- to 17-year-olds in the UK last autumn. It found that while 69 per cent of preschool children were read to daily in 2013, that figure has now dropped to just 51 per cent.


Police have left children living with paedophiles in London, inspectors have revealed, after finding 90 per cent of child protection investigations in the capital unsatisfactory. The Independent reports that the Metropolitan Police said it was urgently improving services after a series of disturbing cases were uncovered by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.


A new haircut popular with young people that has been dubbed the "meet me at McDonalds" has been banned by a school in Norfolk. The Sun reports that Charter Academy in Great Yarmouth has written to parents threatening to send their children home if they do not change the style. Reminiscent of styles sported in the New Romantic synthpop scene of the 1980s, the haircut features a tousled, permed mop, short sides and a floppy fringe. The origin of the name "meet me at McDonalds" is not known.


Thousands more children in Glasgow will qualify for free school meals under plans being unveiled today by the city council. The Glasgow Evening Times reports that the SNP administration at the City Chambers is setting aside £1.5m to extend the scheme to include every pupil in the fourth year of primary school. Currently, all pupils in the first three years of primary school get free school meals in the city's schools. The proposals would see 4,500 extra pupils qualify for free meals regardless of their parents' income.


West Midlands Police officers have used controversial spit hoods on 35 suspects since December - including two children aged just 15. The Birmingham Mail reports that the hoods are used to prevent suspects from spitting or biting and are pulled down over the person's head. They were introduced by the force in mid-December in a bid to protect officers and members of the public from being infected with deadly diseases.


A council has been told to apologise after a school pupil on a foreign trip had to be bandaged after being badly sunburned. The BBC reports that the unnamed pupil, from the Moray Council area, needed a wheelchair as the sunburn was so severe - and then faced a 36-hour trip home on a coach. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman said staff should have explored other options to get the pupil home.