DECISION:

1.            Recognise that care experienced people are a group likely to face discrimination.

2.            Agree to treat care experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic, conducting Equality Impact Assessments for future services and policies.

3.            Proactively seek out and listen to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies.

4.            Include care experience in the publication and review of Equality Objectives and annual information relating to Protected Characteristics.

5.            Call upon all other local organisations and partners to treat care experience as a Protected Characteristic and adopt corporate parenting principles.

6.            Identify and review barriers impacting care experienced people in recruitment, offering guaranteed interviews for eligible applicants.

7.            Encourage statutory partners and small businesses to adopt similar employment practices.

8.            Establish a cross-council approach to creating opportunities for care experienced individuals, including training for recruiting managers and support into apprenticeships.

9.            Report progress and achievements in the annual Corporate Parenting Board report and lobby central government for care experience to be a protected characteristic.

10.         To note the Equalities Impact Assessment / specific equalities considerations as set out from Paragraph 4.1 of the report.

11.         Note this report at the next Full Council meeting.

ACTION BY:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR CHILDREN AND CULTURE, (J. THOMAS)

Director Supporting Families (S. Beasley-Murray)

Councillor Maium Talukdar, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, introduced the report that proposed the Council introduce care experience as a protected characteristic, recognising the disparity and disproportionality faces by those with care experience when it comes to health, education, housing, employment, and criminal justice amongst others.

At the invitation of the Mayor, three care leavers addressed the Cabinet to talk about the experiences and challenges they faced due to being within the care system. Each reported how they had overcome those challenges to realise significant success in their professional and personal lives, but recognised the same was not always true for all care leavers, for whom statistics showed poorer outcomes compared to those without care experience. They welcomed the proposal to introduce care experience as a protected characteristic as they felt it would greatly help future care leavers to realise their goals and aspirations.

The Mayor and Cabinet thanked the young persons for their moving and inspiring testimony. All Cabinet members expressed a desire to celebrate their achievements so all could learn from their experiences.

RESOLVED that the Mayor in Cabinet:

1. Recognises that care experienced people are a group likely to face discrimination.

2. Agrees to treat care experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic, conducting Equality Impact Assessments for future services and policies.

3. Proactively seeks out and listens to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies.

4. Includes care experience in the publication and review of Equality Objectives and annual information relating to Protected Characteristics.

5. Calls upon all other local organisations and partners to treat care experience as a Protected Characteristic and adopt corporate parenting principles.

6. Identifies and review barriers impacting care experienced people in recruitment, offering guaranteed interviews for eligible applicants.

7. Encourages statutory partners and small businesses to adopt similar employment practices.

8. Establishes a cross-council approach to creating opportunities for care experienced individuals, including training for recruiting managers and support into apprenticeships.

9. Reports progress and achievements in the annual Corporate Parenting Board report and lobby central government for care experience to be a protected characteristic.

10. Notes the Equalities Impact Assessment / specific equalities considerations as set out from Paragraph 4.1 of the report.

11. Notes this report at the next Full Council meeting.