Daily roundup: Youth custody, child health, and charity leadership

A group of 18 heads of children's charities and penal reform campaigners have signed a letter in the Daily Telegraph calling on the government to establish an independent review of deaths of children and young people in custody. The letter, signed by Deborah Coles of Inquest, Juliet Lyon of the Prison Reform Trust and Frances Crook of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said such an inquiry must have "effective involvement from bereaved families in order to safeguard lives in future". There have been 282 deaths of children and young people in custody since 2000.

The government has launched a consultation on statutory guidance for local authorities that places a duty on schools to support pupils with medical conditions. The consultation on the draft guidance runs until 14 March, with the new duty due to come into force from September 2014.

Contact a Family has appointed Amanda Batten as its new chief executive. Batten will join the charity, which supports families with disabled children, on 19 May after a decade at the National Autistic Society, where she was most recently director of external affairs. She replaces Srabani Sen, who joined the British Association of Adoption and Fostering last December.