Daily roundup: Children's heart surgery, social work in schools, and single-parent households

Campaigners have succeeded in their legal battle over a decision to close a child heart surgery unit in Leeds. The BBC reports that a judicial review was brought at the High Court in London last month by the Save our Surgery group (SOS) over an NHS decision to stop services in the city. The court has now backed the claim by SOS that the consultation process was unfair and legally flawed, but it is not yet clear what the victory will mean. Sharon Cheng, from SOS, said: "This judgment finally confirms what we have always believed, that the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts' review process and decision to remove children's heart surgery services from Leeds was unlawful.”

Social workers will be employed to work in schools as part of a radical scheme in Lancashire. The Lancashire Evening Post reports that the county council wants to roll out the initiative to as many schools as possible following a successful nine-month trial. Susie Charles, the council's lead member for children and schools, said: “By establishing closer working relationships between social workers and schools, we will be able to work with families at an earlier stage and prevent problems from escalating. Social workers will be able to meet children on their caseload every day if necessary so they are best placed to respond to issues as they arise.”

More than a fifth of households are now headed by single parents, latest statistics show. The BBC reports that the Office of National Statistics’ General Lifestyle Survey shows that the 78 per cent of families with dependent children were headed by a married or cohabiting couple in 2011. This compares to 92 per cent in 1971.

Plans to stop directly funding youth clubs in Derby could lead to more young people getting pregnant and committing crimes, Unison has claimed. The Derby Telegraph reports that the union fears a lack of highly skilled youth workers will put young people at risk. Derby City Council is planning for its 34 youth clubs to be run by community organisations, sports clubs and arts groups. Nicole Berrisford, Unison's Derby branch secretary, said that while some voluntary youth organisations would have the expertise to take over roles such as giving sexual health advice, others may not.

Residents in Lincoln are protesting over plans for a new school for challenging children. The Lincolnshire Echo reports that the proposed Acorn Alternative Provision Free School will cater for 11 and 16 year olds who are at risk of being excluded from other schools and academies in the city. Residents have raised concerns over parking and placing a school for troubled teenagers close to an existing primary school.

And finally, new procedures for investigating serious incidents involving young offenders in the community have been launched by the Youth Justice Board. Serious incidents involving young offenders in the community can include deaths, attempted suicides and offences such as rape or attempted murder. The new system means that youth offending teams will be able to feed their findings into local serious case reviews, except for when there is an extraordinary incident, for which they will still have to provide full reports.