Daily roundup 3 June: Academies, eating disorders, and child poverty

All schools rated inadequate by Ofsted will become academies under proposed legislation published in the Education and Adoption Bill today. BBC News reports that Education Secretary Nicky Morgan wants to "sweep away bureaucratic and legal loopholes" to academy conversion, used by those with ideological objections to academies.


The number of teenagers admitted to hospital with eating disorders has almost doubled in the last three years. The Telegraph reports that the vast majority of sufferers are female, and the most common admission age is 15. The Royal College of Psychiatrists said the “unprecedented” rise can be partly blamed on social media.


Some 5,900 children of migrants in England and Wales are living on as little as £1 a day because their parents cannot work or receive government benefits, it has been claimed. The Independent reports that researchers from Oxford University's migration unit found that in almost a quarter of these families, at least one child is a British citizen. Charities said the conditions are pushing children into “severe poverty and hunger”.


Politicians in Wales have voted to ban people from smoking in cars when children are present. BBC News reports that the offence will carry a £50 fine from October.


More than 10 per cent of children in the UK have been bullied on social media. The Mirror reports that a survey of children aged between eight and 16 by Intel Security also found that 10 per cent would meet, or have already met, someone they encountered online. A total of 48 per cent of parents surveyed said they do not discuss the risk of social networking with their children.


North Lanarkshire children’s services have been praised as among the best in Scotland after a visit by inspectors between October and November last year. The praise comes in an official report by the Care Inspectorate, which is conducting a series of reviews on services across the country, BBC News reports.