Daily roundup 13 January: School places, care applications, and antisocial behaviour

The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned a lack of pupil places could leave schools at “tipping point”. According to ITV News, the warning comes as LGA figures show an estimated 900,000 extra pupils will need school places in England by 2023. Despite councils creating around 90,000 spaces in 2012/13, the LGA has said the problem cannot be solved at a local level.


The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services (Cafcass) received a 918 care applications in December 2014, a 13 per cent increase on the same month the previous year. The number of care applications last month is the highest December figure for five years and third highest total this year. Since April 2014, Cafcass has received 8,196 care applications.


Labour MP Frank Field, has described his Birkenhead constituency in Merseyside as “like Beirut”, due to a failure to tackle antisocial behaviour. The Daily Express reports that Field - who spent an evening with the council's night patrol team - said that the police need "to be able to react as quickly as we saw the gangs moving around Birkenhead". He added legislation was needed “that warmly shakes them by the throat”.


A former Birmingham City Council-run children’s home is at the centre of a sex exploitation scandal – with staff accused of failing to protect young girls from paedophile gangs. A former resident of Uplands in Bromsgrove claims strangers would groom under-age girls after making contact via a public phone, based inside the centre, before abusing them at nearby houses, parks or fields. The Birmingham Mail reports that both the council and police have promised to look into the former resident's claims.


Scientists at the University of Sheffield believe the key to learning at a young age is lengthy naps. The BBC reports an experiment involving 216 babies up to the age of 12 months old found tasks harder to remember if they did not have a lengthy nap shortly after.


A happy childhood can lead to better cardiovascular health in adulthood, according to a study from the University of Helsinki, Finland. The study found children from loving homes, who have healthy food, friends and control their aggression have healthier hearts and circulation compared to disadvantaged children, reports the Daily Mail.