Daily roundup: School canteens, television fears, and consultant costs

Schools will no longer be obliged to have school canteens or kitchens under revised regulations designed to make it easier for new providers to open schools. The Telegraph reports that ministers are axing more than 30 pages of school building regulations, and replacing them with new guidance that is just three pages long. The previous guidance covered areas including the number of toilets being provided, the size of playgrounds and the temperature of classrooms. Concerns have been raised that the move could mean fewer children eating freshly-prepared food in schools.

Children under the age of three should not be allowed to watch television, a leading psychologist has warned. Writing in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, Dr Aric Sigman recommends that parents drastically cut the number of hours children spend watching television. He warns that extensive time in front of screens can lead to attention problems and other psychological difficulties as well as affecting a child’s social relationships. He suggests that children aged between three and seven should be limited to half-an-hour to an hour of screen time each day and those aged seven to 12 should spend just one hour in front of screens.

Leeds City Council has been criticised for spending £800-a-day on a consultant to provide advice to the youth service. The Yorkshire Post reports that the authority is carrying out a review of its youth services – which cost £5m a year – with recommendations due to be considered by politicians next month. The paper says the consultant has been paid £20,000 for 25 days' work. Conservative councillor Alan Lamb said the consultant identified the same problems as a cross-party working group of politicians. Labour defended the decision, stating that expertise was necessary to bring about “radical changes”.

A scheme that boasts a 98 per cent success rate in getting young people into education, employment or training has been backed by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Following a successful pilot with more than 300 young people, the Private Equity Foundation’s ThinkForward programme will be expanded across the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Islington. Using “super coaches”, the scheme helps disadvantaged young people to become “job-ready” before they leave school. The aim is to expland the programme to all schools with high levels of disadvantage nationwide. Clegg said: “These are impressive results showing how helping young people early can change the course of their lives from being out of work or training to being on track for a great career."

Parents are facing time in jail as part of an anti-truancy drive being run in Edinburgh. Edinburgh Council has started criminal proceedings against three parents who are alleged to have failed to ensure their child attends school regularly. Paul Godzik, convener on the council’s education, children and families committee, said statutory interventions are used to try to improve pupil attendance and that prosecution is a last resort. "This sends out a clear message to parents that poor attendance at school has serious consequences, and also that we as a council will do everything possible to help children get the education they deserve," he said.

And finally, council staff in Buckinghamshire are being offered the opportunity to be paid based on their performance rather than how long they have worked for the authority. LocalGov.co.uk reports that the voluntary scheme, which starts in April 2013, involves measuring salary grade progress against targets agreed in advance with managers instead of automatic increments based on length of service. It will not apply to staff working in schools. Peter Cartwright, lead member for resources at Buckinghamshire County Council, said: “Staff told us in the employee survey that it is no longer acceptable for colleagues to progress through pay ranges simply because they have worked here for a certain length of time. We think this is one of only a small number of local authority schemes in the UK to genuinely reward good performance by linking it to career progression and at the same time will enhance the services we provide.”