Daily roundup: Asylum, free school meals and early intervention

A new report warns that child asylum seekers are being held in “disgraceful” conditions at Heathrow Airport and are often locked in “stuffy and overcrowded” rooms for long periods of time. Following the publication of its report, Heathrow Independent Monitoring Board has criticised the Home Office for allowing such treatment to take place, the Independent reports.

Schools could be forced to use pupil premium funding to fund the government’s universal free school meals programme. According to the Daily Mail, head teachers have rejected ministers' claims that the policy is properly funded and said they will have to use funding from other budgets to support its implementation.

The director of a charity that works with vulnerable children in Haringey has said that the borough’s social services need to lend greater support to early intervention organisations. Odiri Ighamre, head of KORI, has told the Haringey Independent that the wellbeing of vulnerable children could be harmed if there is no early intervention.

A government consultation on plans to set up childminder agencies closes today. The Department for Education has been asking the sector for their views on a number of points, including the number of spot checks agencies should make on childminders.

North Somerset Council placed a mentally ill woman’s child into care at birth without informing her of its plans. The Metro reports that a High Court judge approved the plan in April because there was a risk the woman would harm herself or her child if she knew of the plan.

As the government’s Child Poverty Strategy consultation draws to a close, children’s charity 4Children is calling for a “robust and ambitious” plan to improve life chances. The charity claims that the proposed strategy lacks the strength to reduce poverty.