Daily roundup: Free school meals, single parents and school sports
Gabriella Jozwiak
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Free school meals under threat from budget cuts; single-parent families hit by benefits cap and MPs to investigate impact of the Olympics on school sports, all in the news today.
Councils will be forced to abandon free school meals for disadvantaged children because of acute budget cuts, a think-tank has warned. A report by the New Local Government Network warned that local authorities will lose 50 per cent of their spending power over six years. The Independent reports the cuts may lead councils to encourage schools to convert to academies and reduce funding for special educational needs.
Single-parent families make up half of the 40,000 to be hit by a benefit cap, the Times reports. The £500 weekly benefit limit, introduced in four London boroughs yesterday, will affect all social security payments including child benefit, income support and jobseeker’s allowance. According to government data, 75 per cent of affected families will have more than two children. Fiona Weir, chief executive of single-parent charity Gingerbread, said: “The cap doesn’t begin to tackle the underlying problems of the shortage of low-cost social housing and the difficulties that single parents face in finding family-friendly jobs, affording childcare and making work pay.” The scheme will be launched nationally between July and September.
A group of MPs is to probe how the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have influenced school sport. The education select committee has asked teachers to give their views on school sport through an online survey. The result of the research will inform the committee’s inquiry into the matter.
The national minimum wage is to rise to £5.03 an hour for 18- to 20-year-olds from October, the BBC reports. The 5p increase is below inflation. The rate for apprentices will grow by 3p to £2.68 an hour, despite a recommendation by the Low Pay Commission for the government to freeze this wage. Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "Apprenticeships are at the heart of our goal to support a stronger economy, and so it is important to continue to make them attractive to young people.”
More than a quarter of all state school pupils attend academy status institutions, according to figures from the Department for Education. The Guardian reports that 2m out of 7.3m children attend schools including sponsored and converter academies. However, the figures showed a discrepancy between secondary and primary level, with 1.7m of the total representing secondary schools, and only 300,000 from primary.
And finally, a youth organisation has called on charities to invest in research and development, or risk failing to keep up with the needs of the “digital generation”. Speaking at an event this morning, Emma Thomas, chief executive of YouthNet, said the current financial climate was preventing charities from experimenting. “Greater collaboration between the not-for-profit and commercial world is vital to ensure that a constant cycle of research and design develops new technical innovations which generate further social value,” she said. “Young people seek support online and therefore it is vital that we keep up with digital technology to provide young people with the online services that they need.”