Daily roundup 17 June: Mental health, early years, and children's services

The Children’s Society is calling on the government to ringfence funding of children’s mental health. The charity says the mental health needs of the most vulnerable young people are often overlooked, and that more emphasis needs to be placed on spotting early signs of emotional stress to prevent problems escalating into long-term mental illness.


The complaints and redress system in the public sector cannot be regarded as good value for money, according to a National Audit Office report published today. The report, titled Public service markets - Putting things right when they go wrong, looked specifically at government-funded early education. It found that 48 per cent of parents with children in a nursery said they didn't know who to complain to.


In a bid to save £6m by 2018, Oxfordshire County Council plans to reorganise its children’s services, BBC News reports. Under the proposals, children’s social care services would be integrated with the county’s early intervention service. Some of the 44 children’s centres for children under five, and seven early intervention hubs could close under the plans.


A cross-party review to work on long-term changes to England’s exam and curriculum for 14- to 19-year-olds has been called for by shadow Education Secretary Tristram Hunt. He wants academic and vocational subjects to be included in the GCSE system update, and will call for a “new political consensus” on education policy, BBC News reports.


Child benefit should be scrapped to cut the amount of the welfare budget spent on the middle classes, according to a report. Carried out by think-tank Reform, the report says the government could save almost £5bn if the benefit was abolished and poorer families could be compensated through an increased universal credit payment, ITV News reports.  


The First Lady of the United States and her two daughters have visited a school in Tower Hamlets, the Mirror reports. Michelle, Sasha and Malia Obama met staff and pupils from Mulberry School for Girls as part of the “Let Girls Learn” initiative. They discussed how the UK and the US are working together to improve opportunities for girls worldwide to complete their education.