Daily roundup 24 July: Neglect, smacking and academies

Children as young as one are being put in danger because they are left home alone during the summer holidays, it has been claimed. ITV News reports that between June and August last year, 916 cases involving unsupervised children were reported to the NSPCC, with 723 immediately referred to police or children's services due to their severity.


The UK should ban parents from smacking their children, United Nations human rights experts have said. The Independent reports that the UN Human Rights Committee has called for Britain to implement a number of measures in order to comply with international treaties. It also said the age of criminal responsibility – which is 10 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – is “not in accordance with international standards” and should be raised.


Many academy chains in England are struggling to improve results of disadvantaged pupils, a report by the Sutton Trust has found. The BBC reports that 22 of 34 organisations that sponsor multiple academies performed significantly below the mainstream schools average in 2014.


A quality standard to help prevent children and young people becoming overweight has been published today by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. The new standard aims to support high-quality weight management and obesity prevention interventions being provided to benefit children and young people, including lifestyle weight management. 


A total of 309 police officers and police community support officers have been convicted of crimes including possessing indecent images of children since 2012, figures have revealed. The Express reports that the true numbers could be much higher, as just 25 of 45 police forces published figures in response to a Freedom of Information request.


A 16-year-old member of the UK Youth Parliament is to stage a rally this weekend outside parliament. Alongside Unlock Democracy and the Electoral Reform Society, Owen Winter has arranged for hundreds of campaigners to demand politicians fix the UK’s “broken voting system” by introducing a proportional voting system where seats match votes.