Daily roundup: Care homes, healthy eating and safeguarding

The opposition leader of Devon County Council has warned that vulnerable children could be held in police cells if three children's homes in the county are forced to close. ITV News reports that the council wants to offer more foster places for children in the future instead of residential placements.

Children in the UK are eating far too much salt, a study has found. The BBC reports that research published in Hypertension journal found that out of 340 children 70 per cent ate more than the recommended one teaspoon of salt a day.

Doncaster Council has been criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman for turning away a teenager who claimed she was being physically and emotionally abused by her dad. The Doncaster Star reports that an investigation by the ombudsman concluded that the council should have carried out safeguarding enquiries.

Young people in Staffordshire overwhelming oppose cuts to youth services being proposed by the county council. Two-thirds of the 2,500 young people who responded to a consultation said they opposed Staffordshire Council’s plans for youth services to be contracted out to alternative providers and targeted only at disadvantaged groups. A public consultation on the plans received 3,249 responses, reports the Press and Star.

A new charitable foundation to promote running as a fun activity for children has been established. The Go Run For Fun charity will work with parents, children and communities to encourage children to have fun running. A £1.5m donation will help the charity reach 100,000 children over the next three years it said.

The number of parents being fined for taking their child out of school for a holiday has risen by 70 per cent, according to research by BBC One's Breakfast programme. The 34 councils across England that responded said almost 5,300 fines had been imposed during the autumn term when tougher regulations on term-time absence for holidays was introduced.