Daily roundup 27 March: Medway, grammar schools, and YOT funding

Staff at a secure training centre who were secretly filmed by the BBC's Panorama programme allegedly assaulting and threatening young people being held there have been cleared of misconduct. Kent Live reports that four men, employed by private security firm G4S at Medway Secure Training Centre in Rochester, were said to have been captured behaving violently and abusive to young people during an undercover investigation. But after a 43-day trial, officers Anthony Dance, Matthew Cunningham, Gareth Evans and Christopher Lomax were all cleared of misconduct in a public office.


Grammar schools perform no better than non-selective state schools, once their pupils' higher ability and wealth is taken into account, a study has found. The BBC reports that academics at Durham University found the "apparent success" of wholly selective schools was down to their brighter and more advantaged pupils. They said increasing the number of schools that select pupils by ability would be dangerous for equality.


A police chief is being urged to explain why they provide no funding for Newcastle's youth offending team. The Chronicle reports that politicians at Newcastle Council have criticised the "bizarre" lack of funding for the city's youth offending team (YOT) from the Northumbria police and crime commissioner Dame Vera Baird. Baird is now expected to be asked to come before a council scrutiny committee to explain the decision.


Thousands of children should be surveyed to build a true picture of sexual exploitation, experts have said. The BBC reports that the government said it does not know how many girls have been groomed in the wake of questions about sexual exploitation in Telford. But the Centre of Expertise for Child Sexual Abuse is designing a survey of children to run every 10 years to assess the scale of the problem.


Support services for hundreds of children in Bristol affected by domestic violence face an uncertain future after the charity that runs them announced it would be closing at the end of April. The Bristol Post reports that Survive, which runs two different support services for children who have either been the victims of domestic violence or witnessed it in the home, said it will have to close unless it can raise £100,000 in a matter of weeks.


Three new residential children's homes are set to be built in Hull as part of a £550,000 project. The Hull Daily Mail reports that Hull City Council wants to provide more residential beds in the city for children in care and reduce the council's reliance on expensive agency placements beyond the city boundary. The council is currently responsible for 751 looked-after children, an increase of 59 since last April.