Tell us about The Children’s Society

The Children’s Society is a national charity that works to improve the lives of vulnerable children and young people in Britain. We deliver services and campaign to make children’s lives better and change the systems that are placing them in danger. This includes children in care, those who go missing from home, those at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation, and refugees.

How does your work cross into youth justice?

We have a number of national programmes working systemically with partners to identify and unblock the barriers that face children and young adults at risk of exploitation. This includes direct work with children who are experiencing exploitation. It also includes work on school exclusions and the point of arrest as a ‘reachable’ moment to prevent children entering the criminal justice system. We work closely with the police, DfE and the Home Office on child exploitation and trafficking awareness programmes with the public sector and service industries so that children get the help they need as early as possible. We also research child exploitation, adding to the evidence base and evaluating what works. Last year, we published the Counting Lives report focusing on criminal exploitation and children.

What have you been working on recently that might benefit children in the youth justice system?

Our national Prevention, Tackling Child Exploitation and Disrupting Exploitation programmes work with local and national partners to help identify and work with children at risk of exploitation. In particular, we have been using system-informed approaches to build capacity across the sector in these areas of work We work closely with the police to ensure child-focused responses in custody. We advocate for appropriate use of the modern slavery defence when there is a risk that children who have been exploited may be prosecuted. We have identified ‘reachable’ moments to intervene with children at risk of exploitation or who are being exploited and work in partnership with others to test approaches. We have created a range of resources for parents, professionals and others who work with children. These are available on our website.

What do you think are the biggest issues for these children at this moment of the pandemic?

During lockdown, protective systems like schools and community fell away. This has left some children more vulnerable to abuse in the home, criminal exploitation and extra-familial abuse. Increased isolation has affected children’s mental health and wellbeing, particularly for those most vulnerable. Perpetrators adapted quickly to the changed context and statutory agencies have found it difficult to keep up with these changes. Children may find it hard to reintegrate into education and without the right support and resources in schools there is a risk of a spike in school exclusions.

How do you work with the YJB?

We see ourselves as a key strategic partner of the Youth Justice Board, Home Office, police, councils and voluntary sector organisations. We advocate the importance of early identification and intervention, ensuring children who are exploited are supported as victims. We use knowledge gained from our frontline practice, research and evaluation of what works to help shape national policy and strategy. We also want to learn from others and the Youth Justice Board is a vital conduit.

How have you found being a part of a stakeholder forum?

We only recently joined the forum. However, it has already proved an important platform to discuss developments across the sector, share intelligence, shape one another’s plans and use the Youth Justice Board’s influence to get our voices heard by the Government. Its value was evident during lockdown as we shared experiences of how we adapted and emerging issues facing children. We have flagged developments in our Disrupting Exploitation and Prevention programmes and highlighted the importance of early intervention to support children. Going forward, the forum will allow collaborative conversations to develop.

Thank you, Mr President, and our thanks also to Under-Secretary-General Lacroix for his briefing today.

Mr President, today we take stock of a year in peacekeeping unlike any other. I want to salute the dedication and courage of our peacekeepers, as others have, who have persisted with mandate delivery in the face of the challenges of Covid-19. I also pay tribute to the peacekeepers who sadly have lost their lives this year.

Mr President, the challenges of recent months underline why we must continue to pursue the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping agenda. Reforms to improve planning and decision-making have helped missions respond with resilience to the challenges of Covid-19, including by using the Comprehensive Performance Assessment System. The CPAS is just one vital component of the Integrated Performance Policy Framework mandated by resolution 2436.

Improving peacekeeping performance must remain a priority. When missions and personnel perform to the high standards we all expect, they are better able to deliver their mandates and ensure their own safety and security. We are encouraged by the progress made in developing a rigorous performance and accountability framework. I look forward to seeing this implemented.

Mr President, as well as action at the mission level, it is important that all of us as Member States live up to our respective peacekeeping reform commitments. The United Kingdom has continued efforts to streamline mandates on which we hold the pen, aiming to ensure that they are clear, focused, realistic and achievable.

This year, we worked with our German co-penholders to secure Council agreement to respond to the government of Sudan’s request to help with their political transition while ensuring continued UN support for stability and security, particularly in Darfur.

As one of the largest and most consistent extra-budgetary contributors to the Department of Peace Operations, we continue to support projects which are helping to drive key reforms, totalling almost $4 million this year alone.

And as a troop contributing country, we are responding to the capability needs identified by the UN, including through our upcoming deployment of a 250-strong long-range reconnaissance task force to MINUSMA.

And finally, Mr President, in this 20th anniversary year of Resolution 1325, we remain especially committed to advancing the participation of women in UN peacekeeping. To this end, we are continuing to support the Senior Women’s Talent Pipeline, as well as the Elsie Initiative Fund.

Mr President, as we prepare to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, it is fitting that we reflect on how the collective enterprise of UN Peacekeeping has evolved. It is imperative that we keep our reform momentum in order to give our peacekeepers every chance of success.

Thank you, Mr President.

New opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to engage with the defence industry have been announced by Dstl (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory) SME Searchlight.

The first series of webinars, which are free to attend, are scheduled for October and cover the separate areas of air systems and policing. Dstl SME Searchlight is driving an increase in defence collaboration from non-traditional defence suppliers for Dstl, the science inside UK defence and security.

Air Systems Advanced air systems are key to achieving freedom of action and control in the air environment, which is critical to the UK Armed Forces’ success. Dstl’s Air Systems Programme is the Science & Technology focal point and integration hub for air related S&T, for all UK armed services. Areas covered include the development and evaluation of future air systems and associated technologies, and S&T solutions for air systems survivability.

Electro-optic broadband scene projection – Tuesday 6 October 1100 to 1200 Modern sensors can concurrently process information from many parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Dstl aims to more accurately project a scene in multiple wavebands for use in lab based sensor testing and development. Applicable commercial technologies may include laser test, fibre-coupled arrays and LED technology.

Very high power reserve batteries – Thursday 8 October 1500 to 1600 Dstl is researching the next generation of off-board countermeasures for use in the Air domain and is looking for developments in high power, rapid discharge battery technology to power them, including novel solutions and the latest advances in technology from chemical solutions through to super-capacitors.

Policing The future will be challenging for policing with trends like rising inequality and social fragmentation, technological developments and the role of non-state actors all converging and increasing the complexity in which they operate. Recent work by the College of Policing (Future Operating Environment 2040) identified the most relevant trends to policing and Dstl subsequently captured the views of Police Officers and Staff, from across the UK, to identify the most significant future challenges. Many of the challenges identified could be mitigated by science and technology.

Data, information, disinformation, communication and automation – 13 October 1100 to 1200 Dstl seek to address challenges around exploiting the volume and complexity of data, the increasing sophistication in disinformation, the need to demonstrate trustworthiness, implications from increased use of social care devices and ‘deep’ surveillance and sensors.

Human augmentation and behavioural adaption to the changing operating environment – 15 October 1300 to 1400 This session will discuss use of synthetic biology and biotechnology, augmented and virtual reality and human-machine interfaces. Implications of the future operating environment lead to challenges for recruitment and training, operating in environments where moods, emotions and intentions are more apparent, and maintaining moral.

Dstl SME Searchlight is offering the chance to hear more about these challenges and how SMEs, innovators and academia might contribute to the science and technology required to address them. At each event attendees will hear about the challenges directly from a user’s perspective and from Dstl’s commercial team about how to get involved in the research phases. Searchlight will provide information on how it is working with the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) to seek out innovative solutions to some of these challenges.

The events will be hosted by Team Defence Information and are free to attend. Registration is with Eventbrite using the following link: https://searchlight.eventbrite.co.uk

In 2019 Dstl highlighted its commitment to working with a wide range of innovative SMEs. The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has set an ambitious target that 25% of its procurement spend will go to SMEs by 2022. Dstl previously announced a substantial increase in spend with SMEs in the past Financial Year (FY) 2019-20, from £72.6m to £86.1m, meaning that over 27% of its external spend on science and technology (S&T) went to SMEs , either directly or via a prime supplier.

Responding to today’s [15 Sept 2020] Labour Market Statistics, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:

These figures are continuing to show the effect of the pandemic on jobs in Scotland, and the impact on individuals and families across the country. The UK Government has done everything possible to support people through this difficult time.

Through the furlough scheme, the UK Government has supported more than 930,000 Scottish jobs, a third of the workforce, and we are taking decisive action though our ambitious Plan for Jobs.

We have launched the £2 billion Kick Start scheme to create thousands of high quality jobs for young people, are doubling the number of work coaches to help people find work and are bringing in a £1,000 job retention bonus to help employers bring back as many furloughed workers as possible.

The UK Government has provided significant, targeted support where it is needed the most. It has loaned £2.3 billion to 65,000 Scottish businesses, put in place VAT cuts for hospitality and tourism businesses, and 6.3 million discounted meals were eaten at 8,543 establishments across Scotland as part of the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme in August.

Today’s figures highlight Scotland’s key indicators seem to be in a stable position, however, the claimant count rate is now at 8.0% (Aug). This is up from 4.0% pre-lockdown. Together with the increase in unemployment by 19,000 over the last twelve months, we can anticipate the continuing direction of travel. We have seen from last month’s furlough figures that over 779,000 employments have come to a pause and around 157,000 self-employed people in Scotland received UK Government support.

The headline figures are still lagging the real economic situation in September and it will be as long as the UK Government is supporting jobs of around one third in the economy.

In this context, unemployment increased marginally (+1,000) and at 4.6% is up 0.1 p.p. from the three months before (February to April). This is somewhat up from the year before (+19,000) and it is now well above the recent record low of 3.2% at the beginning of the year 2019. The unemployment rate at 4.6% is now at its highest rate since the beginning of 2017. There is also a marginal fall in employment over the last three months (-2,000). Although, the rate of employment is marginally up (+0.1 p.p.), this is the same as for the UK as a whole. The headline figures for the UK and Scotland do not show the full impact of the economic lockdown due to the UK Government support schemes.

It is noteworthy that the UK overall also experienced only a very marginal decrease in employment (-12,000 and its rate changed only marginally too) over the last three months and over the same period unemployment increased at a slightly faster pace, with an increase of 62,000 (+0.2p.p). Over the year, the UK’s employment is still up (+220,000). Although, unemployment is over 100,000 up on one year ago.