The following items are fromChildren & Parliament, winter 1998/spring 1999. Children & Parliament is an abstracting service based on Hansard and produced by the National Children’s Bureau. It covers all parliamentary business affecting children and is available on subscription via the internet (http://candp.ncb.org.uk). TheChildren & Parliament web site provides direct links to full text Hansard, government department sites, the sites of the Office for National Statistics, Ofsted, and other relevant organisations. For further details contact Lisa Payne, Editor, Children & Parliament, National Children’s Bureau, 8 Wakley Street, London EC1V 7QE, UK (tel: +44 (0) 171 843 6000; fax: +44 (0) 278 9512). (TheHansard reference is given in parentheses.)

• All school pupils in England and Wales are protected against corporal punishment under section 131 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. It will be for the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly to decide whether to extend this protection to other parts of the United Kingdom.

(16 Dec 1998, Col 153–4.)

• Sixteen to 18 year olds who are unintentionally homeless and vulnerable must be given priority by local housing authorities but the Department for the Environment, Transport, and the Regions does not provide any specific assistance.

(16 Dec 1998, Col 534.)

• Under new arrangements for 1998–99 Disabled Students Allowances for young people in full time further and higher education will no longer be means tested and the amounts claimable have been increased.

(16 Dec 1998, Col 549–50.)

• Schools that provide milk for their pupils must charge all parents for it except those who receive income support …