Daily Roundup 7 July: School fines, mental health, and advert ban

More than 151,000 fines were handed to parents by local authorities for taking their children out of school unauthorised last year. Parents can be fined up to £60 per day - rising to £120 if not paid within 21 days - for taking a child out of school without permission. The Department for Education has warned that taking children out of school during term time without good reason can affect their chances of achieving good GCSEs.


Councils, schools, children's centres, health visitors and the NHS have been urged to do more to reduce mental health problems among young people by the Local Government Association (LGA). The Guardian reports the LGA recommends initiatives such as giving school assemblies on self-harm and offering children mentors, measures it says are already happening in some areas.


An advert for breast enhancement surgery has been banned because it has been ruled that it was likely to cause harm to young people. The BBC reports that the Advertising Standards Agency said the television promotion advert, which featured a fashion blogger talking about her dislike of her body before having the surgery, was "irresponsible".


Torbay Council has appointed a new director children's services after Ofsted rated its children's services "inadequate". The Torquay Herald Express reports that Andy Dempsey was until recently the director of children's and youth services at St Helen's Council.


The number of vocational courses completed at Key Stage 5 has risen by 179 per cent in the last decade, reaching just over 400,000 in 2015, research has found. According to the Social Market Foundation the rise is due to increased take-up of BTECs, with the number of pupils completing BTEC courses rising from 45,000 to 150,000 in 10 years. This compares with an increase from 12,000 to 44,000 for other vocational qualifications.
 

A mental health service for homeless young people in Luton will continue to run after the academic who designed it managed to secure more funding. Senior psychology lecturer Dr Antigonos Sochos at the University of Bedfordshire successfully applied for £278,000 in Lottery funding to help the Mental Health for Homeless Youth initiative, which he designed three years ago.