Service cuts may expose rural youth to county lines exploitation

  • A lack of funding for youth work in rural areas is leaving young people exposed to the dangers of county lines criminal exploitation
  • The amount spent per head on youth work for 11- to 19-year-olds in rural England, is around £47 which is 25% less than in urban areas, and half the level a decade ago.
  • The National Youth Agency said rural employment prospects and mental-health support access were also a concern.
  • The Government said it had given youth-work charities £100m over the pandemic.
  • But the National Youth Agency is calling for it to implement a long-term spending plan.
  • Full story, here.

 Streamlabs launches monthly tipping service as an alternative to Twitch subscriptions

  • Streamlabs, the popular livestreaming software company, is rolling out a monthly tipping service as an alternative way for streamers to earn money from their fans.
  • Streamlabs Creator Subscriptions can be directly integrated into the OBS software used to stream on Twitch, YouTube, or Facebook.
  • The subscriptions aim to offer streamers flexibility in the type of subscriptions they offer, with no subscription fees.
  • This service could be a great alternative to the current 50% cut taken by Twitch in their own subscription service.
  • Full story, here.

UK to ditch EU privacy rules in post-Brexit push to trade data  

  • The UK government has unveiled a plan to scrap EU data protection rules as part of a post-Brexit privacy purge that would allow companies to sell customer data to foreign countries.
  • Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the UK would move away from the EU’s landmark GDPR privacy law and allow data to be treated like “oil” in a multi-billion-pound opportunity.
  • Privacy advocates have quickly condemned the move and cyber security experts warned that this move would put people’s online security at risk.
  • Full story, here.

Teachers in Scotland given guidance on decolonising the curriculum

  • Teachers in Scotland have been given detailed examples for decolonising the curriculum and a toolkit to address their own discomfort when discussing race.
  • The support material package, released on Thursday, aims to embed anti-racism and race equality into all aspects of school life, with guidance on normalising diversity.
  • Materials from Education Scotland refer to decolonising the curriculum and exploring issues in Scottish history – such as empire, colonialism, slavery, and migration using buildings and street names in Scotland.
  • Scotland’s leading BAME youth organisation has warned that “we cannot resource our way to anti-racist change” when the teaching workforce in Scotland is predominately white and racism is rife in schools.
  • Full story, here.

 NHS planning Covid vaccines for children in England from age 12

  • Reports say that NHS England has been told to prepare to administer Covid vaccinations to all children aged 12 and above, although no official decision has been made.
  • The extension to the vaccination programme would coincide with the start of the new school year.
  • Children aged 12-15 in the UK are currently offered coronavirus vaccines only if they have certain health conditions or live with vulnerable people.
  • NHS trusts have reportedly been told to have plans prepared by 4pm on Friday and to begin distribution on the 6th of September with the aim of vaccinating 75% of children by the 1st of November.
  • Full story, here.