SCHOOLS are suspending 26 children in London every day for violence against other pupils, the Department for Children and Schools has revealed.

The number of children given a fixed period exclusion for physical assault against another pupil has risen by almost 900 to 9,510 in the last year.

In one area of London the number of suspensions for assaults has more than doubled in a single year.

The figures were published in response to questioning in the House of Commons by Conservatives, who said they would change the law to give heads more freedom to discipline children.

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SCHOOLS and housing associations may face losses of millions of pounds from the collapse of Icelandic banks, Ministers have been warned.

Bromley and Chislehurst MP Bob Neill, a Tory local government spokesman, urged Ministers urgently to compile details of all local councils and services with money invested in Iceland.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he asked Ministers: "We are aware that some universities are exposed, but what about the position of schools with devolved budgets?"

Reports have emerged of councils facing massive losses, including Haringey, which had £37 million saved with Icelandic banks, and Barnet, which faces losses of £27.4 million.

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CONSERVATIVES have set out a range of headline-grabbing policy proposals as they prepare for their annual conference beginning in Birmingham today.

They include creating 5,000 "private schools" run by parents, charities and businesses but funded by the private sector.

Tories are also set to bring back weekly bin collections, after some councils began emptying bins fortnightly.

And there will be a range of measures to fight the effects of the credit crunch, including giving the Bank of England new powers to rescue failing banks, and to monitor the level of debt owed by the Government and the nation as a whole.

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THE rising cost of living in London means students may never make the money back they spend on tuition fees and living costs, the National Union of Students has warned.

Undergraduates could rack up debts of £37,000 if the Government presses ahead with plans to increase the fees universities are allowed to charge for teaching.

But in some courses, this is more than they will make from having a degree once they leave university and enter the workplace.

Variable tuition fees of up to £3,000 were introduced in 2004, on the grounds that students received financial benefits from their education and should help pay for it.

But a report launched today by NUS President Wes Streeting at the Higher Education Funding Summit, in Westminster, claimed that graduates on arts courses such as history or English were unlikely ever to make the money back.

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LONDON has the worst childcare services in the country, parents have been warned.

Official inspectors Oftsed warned the quality of childcare "varies widely across different areas of the country."

In inner London authorities, less than 50 per cent of childminding was judged to be good or better - the lowest figure in the country.

The best services were in Wokingham, Berkshire, where 81 per cent of childminders were "good" or "outstanding".

The overwhelming majority of inner London childminders were judged to be satisfactory, but more than five per cent, one in 20, were found to be "inadequate" - the highest figure in the country.

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SEX education should be made part of the national curriculum for every primary school, according to a London MP.

Clive Efford (Lab Eltham) called on the Government to introduce a legal requirement for all primary and secondary schools to teach sex and relationship education.

Earlier lessons could reduce the number of teenagers becoming pregnant or contracting sexually-transmitted diseases, he said.

The plea was made in a letter to the Daily Telegraph signed by ten MPs from across the country.

The MPs said: "The most recent figures for teenage abortions and sexually transmitted infections are equally depressing, despite efforts to reduce them, with 42,784 abortions to teenage girls last year and 32,000 new teenage cases of chlamydia."

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SCHOOLS are struggling to find teachers in London with more than 600 posts currently vacant or covered by temporary staff.

Figures published by the Department for Schools or families show that 560 teaching positions are unfilled.

Some of these will be covered by temporary staff, often agency workers.

And schools have also recruited temps cover another 100 posts on a long-term basis of up to a year.

These are not included in vacancy figures. It means 660 classrooms in the capital have no permanent teacher.

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