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New screen time guidance for parents of under-5s

Source: Department for Education published on this website Tuesday 31 March 2026 by Jill Powell

Government answers parents’ calls for support on screen time with new evidence-backed guidance.

Parents of young children are facing a constant battle with screens. Now, for the first time, the government is stepping in with clear, trusted guidance to help families navigate it.

Following weeks of engagement with over a thousand parents who called for clear support on how much screen time is too much, and how to build healthy habits, the government is delivering on its promise to provide judgement-free, practical support if they need it.

Some will oppose stepping in, but we are clear: if the choice is between standing back or supporting parents to keep children safe, this government will always act.

Currently, parents are left to navigate fast‑moving technology alone – with a quarter (24%) of parents of 3‑ to 5‑year‑olds finding it hard to control their child’s screen time, and 98% of two‑year‑olds watching screens every day.

This underlines the need for support, which is why we are giving parents the clear, trusted tools they need to cut through uncertainty and conflicting advice online.

The new guidance is available for free on the Best Start in Life website, with key tips including:

Under 2s: Avoiding screen time other than for shared activities that encourage bonding, interaction and conversation.
2 to 5-year-olds: Trying to keep it to no more than one hour a day. Avoid at mealtimes and in the hour before bed.
Content: Choosing slow-paced, age-appropriate content. Fast-paced, social media-style videos and AI toys or tools should be avoided for young children.
Co-viewing: Watching or using screens together - talking, asking questions and engaging with the content - is better for children’s development than solo screen use.

This also forms part of wider action to support all children’s wellbeing in the digital world – running alongside the government’s consultation on further measures to keep children safe online.

The guidance is underpinned by the findings of an expert panel report led by the Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza and Professor Russell Viner, a paediatrician and expert in children’s health.

The expert panel reviewed the latest scientific evidence on screen use in under-5s, and found that long periods of time spent on screens alone can get in the way of activities critical for development like sleep, physical activity, creative play, and interaction with parents.

But not all screen use is equal. The evidence shows that watching screens with an engaged adult where parents talk and ask questions is linked to better cognitive development than solo use, that slow-paced content is far better for development than fast-paced social media-style videos, and that time limits shouldn’t apply in the same way for screen-based assistive technologies to support children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said“Children are growing up in a world where screens are everywhere. Parents tell me they want clear, non-judgemental information about why limiting screen use is important, given in a way that reflects the realities of their daily lives.

“That’s why I was pleased to co-chair the group advising the government for this first piece of guidance on screen time for children under five, setting out why it’s so important to avoid particular kinds of screen time, and how.

“Young children need their parents to be confident in managing their screen use, but often this can be overwhelming for parents learning to navigate this. My hope is that this guidance helps to cut through the conflicting advice available and prioritise children’s development and wellbeing, as well as their safety.”

Today’s guidance is the latest step in the government’s plan to break down barriers to opportunity.

Central to this is the rollout of Best Start Family Hubs, with hundreds of new hubs set to open across the country next week, bringing parenting advice, services and community support closer to families who need it most. The screen time guidance will be available through the hubs, giving parents access to the advice face-to-face as well as online.

The guidance is also supported by The Dollywood Foundation UK, home of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library which sends free age-appropriate books to children aged 0-5 in parts of the country through the government’s Best Start Family Hubs.

Proposed measures in the government’s wider consultation on social media include a minimum age for social media, raising the digital age of consent, overnight curfews for certain age groups, restrictions on AI chatbots for young people, and whether school mobile phone guidance should be made statutory.

New legal powers taken through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will allow the government to act quickly on the outcomes of the consultation.

Regulator launches inquiry into international children’s charity over serious safeguarding concerns

Source: The Charity Commission published on this website Monday 30 March 2026 by Jill Powell

The Charity Commission is investigating CISV International Ltd (charity number: 1073308) and has appointed an Interim Manager to the charity.

The charity was set up to further education in the international understanding of children and to shape their development, with a focus on peace. It offers educational activities for children, including international camps, through a federation of nearly 70 national associations with over 200 chapters or local groups.

In February 2026, the charity submitted a serious incident report relating to the charity’s safeguarding practices, in line with the Commission’s published guidance.

The report raised several serious concerns about the charity’s safeguarding policies and procedures, and its inability to enforce compliance by member associations. Due to the nature of these concerns, the Commission has escalated its engagement to a statutory inquiry.

The inquiry will examine the extent to which the charity’s trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect of the administration, governance, including safeguarding, and management of their charity in particular:

whether the trustees have adequate strategic oversight of the charity and its activities
whether the charity has systems in place to identify, assess and manage risks to beneficiaries
the extent to which there has been any misconduct and / or mismanagement by the trustees.

The scope of the inquiry can be extended if additional regulatory issues emerge.

Emma Moody of Womble Bond Dickinson has been appointed as Interim Manager of the charity while it is under inquiry. She will be responsible for matters relating to safeguarding. During this time, trustees are not permitted to make decisions or take actions relating to safeguarding. Trustees must cooperate fully with the Interim Manager and their team throughout this process.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing the issues examined, any action taken, and the inquiry’s outcomes.

New consultation to help children to enjoy healthier diets

Source: Department of Health and Social Care published on this website Thursday 26 March 2026 by Jill Powell

Parents will find it easier to provide their children with a healthy diet with the government set to adopt a new model to assess the healthiness of food and drink.

Food and drinks identified as ‘less healthy’ by the government’s updated NPM would be restricted from being placed in certain locations in stores, from volume price offers that encourage over-purchasing such as get 3 for the price of 2, and subject to advertising restrictions on TV before 9pm and online at any time, subject to consultation.

The previous model is more than 20 years old and does not reflect modern dietary advice.

Applying the new NPM to junk food advertising and volume price restrictions could lead to 110,000 fewer cases of childhood obesity and up to 520,000 fewer cases of adult obesity in the long term.

The new model, based on the latest dietary recommendations, looks at the healthiness of food and drinks based on their balance of nutrients - calories, salt, saturated fat, protein and fibre - and also free sugars, which are added to products or released during food processing.

Adopting the new model will mean some products often marketed as healthier but which contain hidden sugars or are high calorie and are often a driver of childhood obesity – such as certain sweetened cereals and fruit yoghurts - could be in scope of the restrictions.

This will:

strengthen the impact of the existing restrictions
give parents a far clearer picture about what they are buying
encourage industry to reformulate so food marketed at children is healthier

The new model aligns to dietary recommendations on free sugars, with children currently consuming double the recommended amount. High consumption of free sugars is directly associated with poor health outcomes and can often be found in food and drinks marketed as healthier than they actually are.

Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said:

“Free sugar in children’s diets is mainly sugar that is added to foods or where processing has released it.

“Free sugars are associated with increased levels of childhood obesity and other health harms, putting children’s health at risk for the rest of their lives.

“Applying the updated NPM to advertising and promotions will reduce marketing of unhealthy products at children, helping to reduce excess free sugar consumption and benefiting current children’s health now and in the future.”

The consultation on applying the new NPM to advertising and promotions restrictions builds on ongoing collaboration with industry to ensure we can collectively improve children’s diets. It invites views on:

how and when the new NPM should be used
the guidance businesses will need
the timeline for implementation

Childhood obesity remains stubbornly high, with more than 1 in 3 children aged 10 to 11 living with overweight or obesity, and rates in deprived areas more than double those in more affluent communities. Obesity not only places a significant strain on the future health of a child but also costs the NHS billions of pounds to treat.

The rules do not ban the sale of products. They simply stop the relentless pressure of advertising and promotions for foods high in free sugars, salt and saturated fat.

This consultation is part of a series of measures by this government to combat childhood obesity and help support parents to raise the healthiest generation of children ever. Other measures include:

extending the Soft Drinks Industry Levy
banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16
introducing supervised toothbrushing for 3 to 5 year olds to protect those in the most deprived communities from tooth decay

Free breakfast clubs at schools are already providing a lifeline for so many, and more than 300,000 additional children are set to benefit from Best Start free breakfast clubs in April. The Healthy Start scheme is also helping provide those families eligible to buy healthy food and milk.

These are in addition to restricting less healthy food from being:

placed in certain locations in stores
included in volume price promotions
advertised when and where children are most likely to be watching

18 year old Anna, Bite Back youth activist, said:

“We welcome this consultation. It shows the government is starting to listen to young people and take action on junk food marketing.

“Right now, we’re surrounded by ads and deals pushing unhealthy food everywhere - on our phones, on our streets, even on the way to school. We’re not being supported to be healthy, we’re being set up to fail.

“This is an important step, but it needs to lead to real change so young people aren’t being targeted at every turn, and we can grow up in environments that actually support us to be healthy.”

Fran Bernhardt, Commercial Determinants Co-ordinator at Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, said:

“The NPM has been crucial for progress on children’s health. By allowing us to differentiate between healthier and less healthy foods and drinks, it’s been the cornerstone of several successful policies. One of its key strengths is its simplicity - it’s easy for businesses and policymakers to use and understand, and that must be preserved as the model is updated.

“Opening this consultation is a welcome step, as unanswered questions remain around how to implement these changes. We urge the government to work closely with experts to ensure the necessary data and guidance are in place, so the updated NPM can continue - and strengthen - its role in safeguarding children’s health.”

Nursery admits corporate manslaughter over death of toddler suffocated to death

Source: Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published on this website Friday 27 March 2026 by Jill Powell

A private nursery has admitted corporate manslaughter over the death of 14-month-old Noah Sibanda who died after being suffocated while staff tried to make him fall asleep.

Toddler Noah died at Fairytales Day Nursery on 9 December 2022 having been physically restrained face down on a cushion, with a blanket over his face and a leg placed over him.

Fairytales Day Nursery Limited admitted one count of corporate manslaughter and a Health and Safety at Work Act offence today at Wolverhampton Crown Court. Director and business owner Debbie Latewood, 55, also admitted a Health and Safety at Work Act offence on the basis that she did not know children were being put down to sleep in this dangerous way, though should have known.

Nursery practitioner Kimberley Cookson, 23, previously pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter at the same court. This related to her conduct in making Noah sleep.

The incident was captured on CCTV at the nursey, and showed Noah was tightly wrapped in a sleeping bag, had a blanket placed over his head, and was laid face down to sleep by Cookson.

She held him in place face down on a soft cushion and restrained him with her leg for some of that time, in what appeared to be an effort to make him sleep when he did not want to. After a considerable duration, it was noticed that he was not breathing, and the emergency services were called. Noah was pronounced dead at hospital.

Alex Johnson, Senior Specialist Prosecutor within the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, said:

“This case has been deeply distressing and represents every parent’s worst nightmare whenever they leave their young child at a nursery.

“Noah Sibanda should have been safe in the care of professionals entrusted with his wellbeing. He lost his life as a result of reckless and dangerous sleeping practices which posed an obvious and serious risk of harm.

“The evidence in this case, including CCTV footage and expert medical findings, showed that Noah was placed to sleep in a way that severely restricted his ability to breathe and move. The prosecution case was that these practices created a suffocating environment, from which a 14-month-old child, was clearly unable to escape.

“Fairytales Day Nursery Limited has now accepted criminal responsibility for the systemic failures that led to this tragedy, and Deborah Latewood has also acknowledged that the failings occurred under her management and oversight. Kimberley Cookson has also taken responsibility for her harmful actions.

“Nursery providers have a fundamental duty to protect the children in their care. This case underscores the devastating consequences of what happens when that duty is breached. Our thoughts remain with Noah’s family, who have endured an unimaginable loss.”

The defendants will be sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 16 April.

Protecting people online from self-harm content and cyberflashing

Source: Ofcom published on this website Wednesday 25 March 2026 by Jill Powell

People in the UK will be better protected online from illegal self-harm material and unsolicited nude images, under new proposals published by Ofcom.

The regulator is consulting on updates to its codes of practice and guidance to reflect the Government’s recent creation of new priority offences under the UK’s Online Safety Act.

Duties on platforms

The Act lists over 130 priority offences. Under the Act, tech firms must assess the risk of these offences occurring on their sites and apps, put appropriate measures in place to mitigate the risk of them occurring, and take down priority illegal content quickly when they become aware of it.

Ofcom’s codes of practice and guidance set out ways platforms can comply with these duties.

New priority offences

In December 2025, the Government added cyberflashing and encouraging or assisting serious self-harm to the list of priority offences in the Act. To reflect this change in the law, we are consulting on updates to our Risk Assessment Guidance, Risk Profiles, Register of Risks, Illegal Content Judgements Guidance and Illegal Content Codes of Practice.

This means that providers will have to assess the risk of unsolicited nude images and illegal self-harm content appearing on their services. They will also have to take appropriate safety measures to protect users from these harms. We are proposing that various existing measures in our codes should apply to these offences, including:

allowing users to report illegal content through reporting and complaints processes that are easy to find, access and use;
making sure content moderation functions are appropriately resourced and individuals working in moderation are trained to identify illegal content;
having content moderation systems and processes designed to take down illegal content swiftly when a platform becomes aware of it;
when testing their algorithms, checking whether and how design changes impact the risk of illegal content being recommended to users;
enabling users to block or mute other users and disable comments on their content;
providing crisis prevention information in response to search queries regarding self-harm; and
enabling users to easily report predictive search suggestions they believe may direct people towards priority illegal content.

Next steps

Ofcom are inviting responses to their consultation by 5pm on Friday 24 April 2026. They will take all feedback into account before making Their final decisions, Ofcom expect to publish in summer 2026.