MF,
With airlines making losses and going bust left right and centre, at the current estimates well over a thousand unemployed qualified pilots in the UK, several hundred of whom with recent airline and jet experience, and more coming from Europe with JAA licences, I can't see much happening at the trainee/cadet level for a while yet.
Things change fast in aviation and things will change. Unfortuantely cadets and low-hour CPL/IRs like myself will be at the back of the queue.
The best advice is to think of the long term and plan to catch the next cycle in the roller-coaster aviation market. Stay in your current job, get saving, and get ready to reapply when the CEP schemes restart. Who knows, by then you may even have saved enough money to self-sponsor through training.
best of british,
foggy.