Daily roundup 22 March: Emergency cash, youth centres, and SEN funding

Manchester Council is to provide emergency cash to schools to tackle the number of children from impoverished families turning up hungry and without the right uniform. The Manchester Evening News reports that the council fears poorest families are struggling to make ends meet because of welfare reforms. The town hall has set aside £50,000 for schools to make sure all children are properly fed and clothed.


Youth centres across the Bath and North East Somerset area are at risk of closure following the halving of their £1m budget. The Bath Echo reports that Bath & North East Somerset Council plans to sell two of three youth hubs across the area.


Schools in Hull have reached "breaking point" with insufficient funding to match rising demand from the most vulnerable pupils, head teachers have said. The Guardian reports that in a letter to the education secretary, Damian Hinds, the city's primary school heads said they no longer had the resources to properly look after children with special educational needs (SEN).


A 19-year-old man has been arrested after a mass bomb hoax closed hundreds of schools across England. The BBC reports that the teenager was arrested in Watford, Hertfordshire, on Wednesday night, on suspicion of blackmail and making malicious communications via email. The National Crime Agency, which is leading the investigation, said there was "no credible threat" from the emails received by schools.


More pupils in England were taken out of school to go on holiday in the last academic year, government figures show. The BBC reports that around one in six youngsters (16.9 per cent) missed at least a half-day of lessons during 2016/17, compared with 14.7 per cent in the previous 12 months. The figures also show that the proportion of parents being fined for taking their children out of lessons without permission has fallen.