Council acts against care experience discrimination

Local Councillors have decided that B&NES Council will treat being “care experienced” as if it were a protected characteristic, alongside aspects of identity such as race and disability. The aim is to ensure that the council avoids any decisions or policies which could discriminate against care experienced people, in recognition of the lifelong impact of experiencing the care system.

During the Council meeting, two public speakers made very moving statements about their personal experience of the care system, welcoming the proposal as “a powerful statement of intent” and “a sign of good corporate parenting”.

As a lead campaigner for this change, Terry Galloway of the charity ‘Become’, spoke of the lifelong challenges facing care experienced young people and called for B&NES to become the 82^nd Council area to adopt this motion.

Mr Galloway shared sobering statistics illustrating the significant disadvantages care experienced face. For example, care experienced people are 70% more likely to die prematurely, and 50% of young people in prison and 25% of homeless people have experienced the care system.

Cabinet member for Children and Young People, Councillor Paul May, who introduced the motion to full Council, said: 

“Our duty as councillors is to do everything we can for care experienced children and young adults. We should be asking whether the support and services we provide would be ‘good enough for my child?’

“Sadly, statistics show that being in care does still lead to significant disadvantage and care experienced adults may therefore engage more with council services on an ongoing basis. As an example, 1 in 4 care experienced young people reported having sofa-surfed in 2022 and 1 in 4 of homeless people are care experienced.

“Whilst their trauma and experience cannot be taken away, we as a council can consider and prevent further discrimination when it comes to policy and decision-making. This is one way we can show we care for them as if they were our own children. We are starting with our own services but also calling on other organisations to follow suit.

“I am truly delighted that the motion was adopted unanimously by Councillors from all parties. This shows that this issue goes beyond politics. In adopting this motion, we have joined 81 other local authorities who have agreed to recognise care experience as if it were a protected characteristic.”

ENDS

Notes:

• The recording of the Council meeting can be viewed on the Council’s webcast library or YouTube channel.
• Become is the charity for children in care and young care leavers: https://becomecharity.org.uk/
• The full text of the motion adopted by Council is as follows:

Council notes that:

1. Care experienced people face significant barriers that impact them throughout their lives.
2. Despite the resilience of many care experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account.
3. Care experienced people often face discrimination and stigma across housing, health, education, relationships, employment and in the criminal justice system.
4. As corporate parents, we have a collective responsibility for providing the best possible care and safeguarding for the children who are looked after by us as an authority.
5. All corporate parents should commit to hearing the voices of looked after children and young people and to considering their needs in any aspect of Council work.
6. This issue has been discussed at the Corporate Parenting meeting of 17 January 2024, at which all Councillors present supported the idea of treating care experience as a protected characteristic, and with care experienced people locally.
7. Councillors should be champions of the children in our care and challenge the negative attitudes and prejudice that exists in all aspects of society.
8. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as Councils, to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation of people with protected characteristics.
9. 75 other Local Authorities (cross party) have already adopted the motion to protect Care Experience.
10. The Independent Review of Childrens Social Care (2022) recognised that Care Experience should be considered a Protected Characteristic. The national advisor for Care Leavers, Mark Riddle (DfE) supported this recommendation in May 2023.

Council therefore:

11. Recognises that care experienced people are a group who are likely to face discrimination.
12. Recognises that Councils have a duty to put the needs of disadvantaged people at the heart of decision-making and include them in decisions which affect them.
13. Include a category of “care experienced” in all equality impact assessments, thereby ensuring that future decisions, services and policies made and adopted by the Council will be assessed to determine the impact of changes alongside those who formally share a protected characteristic.
14. Requests that in the delivery of the Public Sector Equality Duty the Council includes care experience in the publication and review of Equality Objectives and the annual publication of information relating to people who share a protected characteristic in services and employment.
15. Resolves that this Council will treat care experience as if it were a protected characteristic and that this shall be in addition to any other protected characteristic which may be relevant to an individual.
16. Formally calls upon other bodies to treat care experience as a protected characteristic until such time as it may be introduced by legislation.
17. Ensure Council departments continue to proactively seek out and listen to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies and practices.