Daily roundup 14 December: NCS, health visitors and unregistered schools

Prime Minister David Cameron should make the National Citizen Service compulsory to help prevent young people in Britain being radicalised by Islamic extremists, his former spokesman has said. The Telegraph reports Andy Coulson as saying the scheme should be made compulsory in response to the growing threat of home-grown terror in the UK.


A possible decline in the number of health visitors - and a shortfall of school nurses - could jeopardise the life chances of vulnerable babies and families, Unite has warned. The Union said that there is a possible "disturbing downward trend" in health visitor numbers, compounded by the prospect of councils privatising public health services.


Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has said Ofsted should prepare cases against unregistered schools for prosecution. Morgan said the government wants to eradicate all unregistered schools as part of its commitment to tackle extremism.


A manifesto that highlights the importance of intervening early in the 1001 critical days between conception to age two to enhance the outcomes for children will re-launch in Parliament today. MP Tim Loughton and co-chair of the All Party Parliamentry Group Conception to Age 2: first 1001 days, said there needs to be more targeted support for struggling families early in a child's life, such as the approach used for the Troubled Families programme


Tens of thousands of children are living in poverty and at risk of going hungry in Bradford. The Bradford Telegraph and Argus reports that public health bosses have found that 33,000 across the district are at risk of food poverty.


Funding of £300,000 is on offer for projects in Northamptonshire that support young people who are not in education, employment or training. The Northampton Chronicle & Echo reports a new call has been put out for the ESF Skills Funding Agency contract tender, with the deadline for applications ending on 16 January next year.