Daily roundup 27 October: Ofsted, intensive care, and halal meat

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman will appear before the education select committee next week as part of its hearings with key figures in the sector who are directly accountable to parliament. The session, which will take place on Tuesday 31 October, will feature questions about Ofsted's inspection of children's services, and oversight of multi-academy trusts. A further accountability hearing with Anne Longfield, Children's Commissioner for England, will follow in the coming weeks.


The number of children admitted to intensive care in England has risen sharply since 2009, putting additional pressure on already overstretched health services, researchers have warned. The Guardian reports that a study of admissions to paediatric intensive care units in England found an increase of nearly 15 per cent from 2004 to 2013, with a larger than expected rise against population growth from 2009 onwards.


An English council has voted to ban schools from serving halal meat from animals that are not stunned before slaughter. The Guardian reports that the proposal to ban the practice was brought by Geoff Driver, the Conservative leader of Lancashire County Council, who argues it is "abhorrent" and "really, really cruel" to slaughter animals without stunning them first. Lancashire currently supplies 27 schools with "unstunned" halal meat, catering for up to 12,000 children who are served 1.2m meals a year.


A Labour MP has urged Dudley Council to scrap plans to make youth clubs for disabled children completely voluntary-run. The Express & Star reports that Ian Austin, Labour MP for Dudley North, has called on council bosses to think again. He said: "I am very concerned about the effect these changes could have on disabled young people."


The Institute of Health Visiting has launched a new leadership development programme. The programme, which is suitable for health visitors, school nurses, nurses, midwives and other health and social care professionals, aims to develop knowledge, skills and enhance confidence in clinical and public facing leadership.


A new framework for working with young people in the justice system has been introduced across Greater Manchester. The Greater Manchester Youth Justice University Partnership has launched the Participatory Youth Practice Framework, which has been developed in collaboration with young people themselves based on their experiences within the youth justice system.