Daily roundup: DfE cuts, schools in Wales and paternity leave

The Department for Education could be in line for cuts totalling £2bn, The Times reports. Treasury sources told the newspaper that they expect the core schools budget will not be affected, meaning that other services including childcare and youth work could be in line for cutbacks.

A review of education in Wales has called for councils to be stripped of their responsibility to improve schools, Wales Online reports. The Welsh Government-commissioned review says that existing arrangements were “profoundly unsatisfactory” and proposes moving some local education authority duties into regional consortia. The proposal has been welcomed by the teaching union Voice Cymru.

A think tank says paternity leave should be offered on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis to encourage more fathers to take up the entitlement, The Telegraph reports. The Institute for Public Policy Research said the measure was needed because only half of fathers are using the full two weeks leave available to them.

A campaign calling for a legal right to health visiting for families in Scotland launched today. The Health Visitors Scotland campaign aims to introduce an amendment to the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill that will give all under fives a legal entitlement to health visits. The campaign is backed by the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, Children in Scotland, Parenting Across Scotland, the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland and the Scottish children’s commissioner.

And finally, the UK is spending far less on autism research than the USA, according to a report for the charity Research Autism. The study found that the US spent the equivalent of £75.79 per person with autism in 2010 compared to just £4.26 in the UK. The study also found that the majority of UK studies focused on biological issues while the US funded a more balanced range of research.