Daily roundup 10 November: Mental health, care applications, and training

Taking part in the Scouts or Girlguides could help lower the risk of mental illness in later life, a study by Glasgow and Edinburgh universities has found. The findings, which were drawn from a lifelong study on 10,000 people born in November 1958, found that those who had belonged to the Scouts or Guides tended to have better mental health at the age of 50. ?Researchers found that attending the guides or scouts may help build resilience against common stresses in life, or increase a person's chances of achieving more in life.




The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service received a total of 1,141 care applications in October 2016. The figure represents a five per cent increase on October 2015 when 1,090 care applications were received. It is the 29th consecutive month that care applications have risen compared to the same month the year before.


Too many apprenticeships in England do not help young people start a career or progress to higher vocational education, research has suggested. The BBC reports that the Institute for Public Policy Research wants lower level apprenticeships to be replaced by pre-apprenticeship programmes that address 16- to 18-year-olds' "distinct needs". Its report comes as universities have been awarded £4.5m to develop 5,200 degree-level apprenticeships by September.


London's biggest growth industries risk missing out on talented young people, a survey of 16- to 24-year-olds by London Youth has found. The survey found 63 per cent of 600 young Londoners believe they are being denied career-making work experience opportunities because too many employers value contacts over skills, and fail to take into account ambition.


Footballer Adam Johnson is attempting to appeal against his conviction and six-year prison sentence for child sex offences for the second time. The Daily Mail reports the 29-year-old former Sunderland star first tried to launch a bid to overturn his conviction in July, but his application was thrown out by an Appeal Court judge.


Older mothers are helping to fuel a rise in Caesarean births, which are now at an all-time high, figures from NHS Digital have suggested. The Express reports that 'C-sections' accounted for 27.1 per cent of all births in 2015/16 - up from 26.5 per cent the year before and 24.1 per cent a decade ago. The data showed that older mothers are much more likely to give birth by C-section, and are more likely to have a pre-planned Caesarean.