Daily roundup 1 October: Cadets, youth services and children's trust

Cadet forces in independent schools risk being scaled back or even shut down because of charges planned by the Ministry of Defence, independent school leaders have warned. Schools that run combined cadet forces have been told that they face charges of £150 per pupil for uniforms, ammunition and rations, and will also lose smaller grants and payments for teachers who run camps or courses. The changes, to be phased in between next year and 2018, have been proposed by the ministry to make good a government pledge to open 100 more cadet units in state schools, the Times reports.

Public sector union Unison has condemned the decision by Staffordshire County Council to close youth services by the end of the year. The council wrote to all county youth workers last week to inform them of the move which will end a 75-year history of providing after school activities for young people at designated centres, reports the Lichfield Mercury. Steve Elsey, secretary of Unison’s Staffordshire branch, said: “This is a sad day for all of Staffordshire’s residents, especially our young people who have made many pleas for services to continue.”