Daily roundup: Bradford free school, baby confidence and complaints in the NHS

A free school in Bradford that was due to open its doors next week has had its funding pulled by government after failing to attract sufficient numbers of pupils. Set in the grounds of Bradford City football club, and run in partnership with the One in Million charity, the free school had a target intake of 50 pupils but only secured 30 enrolments. The Department for Education has asked the charity-run school to defer opening until 2013. Parents described the decision as a "devastating blow".

A report commissioned by the Scottish Government has found that a service providing support for young mums and dads is improving interactions between parents and their babies, and increasing the confidence of the babies. The Barnardo’s Scotland You First service supports young parents across eight health board areas in Scotland. It is a 20-week programme for new parents aged under 21 with a baby under the age of one.

Around 3,100 written complaints a week were made against the NHS in 2011/12, according to official statistics. Grievances about “nurses, midwives and health visitors” accounted for 23,300 complaints. Deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation David Stout said an increase in the number of complaints “doesn't necessarily mean that patients are less satisfied with their care”. “Although it sounds peculiar, a rise in complaints data can actually mean that patients feel more engaged with their local NHS and want to work with it to improve,” he said.

The parents of a profoundly deaf boy are angry at having to pay £6,000 to learn sign language to communicate with him, the BBC reports. The National Deaf Children's Society said that local authorities have the choice on whether to provide free services for parents, but added that a child’s communication with their family is “a basic human right”.

The Nominet Trust has approved more than £500,000 funding for five new projects that plan to use digital technology to improve opportunities for young people. The Slivers of Time project will receive £250,000 to expand their online market that allows young people to get involved in micro-volunteering to boost their employability, whilst FLIP Jobs will use their share of the cash to develop an online tool to help young people to make positive career choices.