Agenda item

8.1

It was moved by Councillor Dawn Dale, and seconded by Councillor Jayne Dunn, that this Council:-

(a)      notes the campaign to make care experience a protected characteristic and the drive to extend Corporate Parenting beyond Children’s Social Care;

(b)      notes the Council has:-

(i)       developed a Voice and Influence Team which employs a group of Care Experienced Young People to deliver a range of consultation, training, and scrutiny activities to ensure the voice of Children in Care and Care Experienced Young People are central to service development and decision making;

(ii)       a “Staying Close” project to enable Care Leavers to enjoy enhanced support to independence;

(iii)      continued to support friendships and tackle loneliness with a programme of free activities and events;

(iv)      implemented a new Pathway Plan snapshot document; this enables Care Leavers to clearly see their agreed plan as they transition to independence;

(v)      developed a range of work experience, training and apprenticeship offers for Care Experienced young people; and

(vi)      provided a full Tenancy Ready Programme to prepare Care Experienced young people for managing their own accommodation and award priority status to Care Leavers;

(c)      believes:-

(i)       that despite the resilience of Care Experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account;

(ii)       Care Experienced people often face discrimination and stigma across housing, health, education, relationships, employment and in the criminal justice system;

(iii)      as corporate parent, the Council has a responsibility to provide the best possible care and safeguard children who are looked after by us as an Authority;

(iv)      Councillors should be champions of our looked after children and young people and challenge the negative attitudes and prejudice that exist; and

(v)      the Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as councils, to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation of people with protected characteristics; and

(d)      therefore resolves to request that the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee, as part of the forthcoming Equalities Framework, consider:-

(i)       introducing a requirement that, when making any policy decisions, the Council recognises Care Experienced people are a vulnerable group who face discrimination;

(ii)       treating care experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic so that future services and policies consider care experience through Equality Impact Assessments;

(iii)      putting the needs of vulnerable people at the heart of decision-making through co-production and collaboration; and

(iv)      calling upon all other bodies to adopt corporate parenting for children in care and care experienced people until such time as it may be introduced by legislation.

8.2

Whereupon, it was formally moved by Councillor Sue Alston, and formally seconded by Councillor Mohammed Mahroof, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of new sub-paragraphs (d)(v) to (vii) as follows:-

(d)(v)  formally supporting the LGA’s Step Ahead campaign;

(vi)      continuing to build on the existing ringfenced apprenticeship opportunities for care experienced people by committing to an agreed number of apprenticeships places each year delivered through the Council’s levy funding; and

(vii)     taking an intersectional approach and commit to tackling the systemic discrimination and disproportionality faced by specific groups of care experienced people.

8.3

It was then formally moved by Councillor Angela Argenzio, and formally seconded by Councillor Douglas Johnson, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.       the deletion of paragraph (c)(v) and the addition of a new paragraph (c)(v), in line with Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, so that it reads as follows:-

(c)(v)  the Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as councils, to have due regard to the need to:-

(A)      eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act;

(B)      advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;

(C)      foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

2.       the substitution, in sub-paragraph (d)(iv), of the words “calling upon other bodies to support the Council in its Corporate Parenting responsibility” for the words “calling upon other bodies to adopt corporate parenting”; and

3.       the addition of new sub-paragraphs (d)(v) to (vii) as follows:-

(v)      the impact on people with other protected characteristics such as race, sexual orientation or disability, as well as issues of intersectional or multiple discrimination;

(vi)      the scope for a trial scheme for a basic income pilot for care leavers, as piloted by the Welsh Government; and

(vii)     requesting the Government to ensure full funding that is needed to meet all the recommendations of the independent review of children’s social care by Josh MacAlister.

8.4

The amendment moved by Councillor Sue Alston was put to the vote and was carried unanimously.

8.5

The amendment moved by Councillor Angela Argenzio was then put to the vote and was also carried unanimously.

8.6

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and was carried unanimously:-

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That this Council:-

(a)      notes the campaign to make care experience a protected characteristic and the drive to extend Corporate Parenting beyond Children’s Social Care;

(b)      notes the Council has:-

(i)       developed a Voice and Influence Team which employs a group of Care Experienced Young People to deliver a range of consultation, training, and scrutiny activities to ensure the voice of Children in Care and Care Experienced Young People are central to service development and decision making;

(ii)       a “Staying Close” project to enable Care Leavers to enjoy enhanced support to independence;

(iii)      continued to support friendships and tackle loneliness with a programme of free activities and events;

(iv)      implemented a new Pathway Plan snapshot document; this enables Care Leavers to clearly see their agreed plan as they transition to independence;

(v)      developed a range of work experience, training and apprenticeship offers for Care Experienced young people; and

(vi)      provided a full Tenancy Ready Programme to prepare Care Experienced young people for managing their own accommodation and award priority status to Care Leavers;

(c)      believes:-

(i)       that despite the resilience of Care Experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account;

(ii)       Care Experienced people often face discrimination and stigma across housing, health, education, relationships, employment and in the criminal justice system;

(iii)      as corporate parent, the Council has a responsibility to provide the best possible care and safeguard children who are looked after by us as an Authority;

(iv)      Councillors should be champions of our looked after children and young people and challenge the negative attitudes and prejudice that exist; and

(v)      the Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as councils, to have due regard to the need to:-

(A)      eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act;

(B)      advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and

(C)      foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it; and

(d)      therefore resolves to request that the Strategy and Resources Policy Committee, as part of the forthcoming Equalities Framework, consider:-

(i)       introducing a requirement that, when making any policy decisions, the Council recognises Care Experienced people are a vulnerable group who face discrimination;

(ii)       treating care experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic so that future services and policies consider care experience through Equality Impact Assessments;

(iii)      putting the needs of vulnerable people at the heart of decision-making through co-production and collaboration;

(iv)      calling upon other bodies to support the Council in its Corporate Parenting responsibility for children in care and care experienced people until such time as it may be introduced by legislation;

(v)      formally supporting the LGA’s Step Ahead campaign;

(vi)      continuing to build on the existing ringfenced apprenticeship opportunities for care experienced people by committing to an agreed number of apprenticeships places each year delivered through the Council’s levy funding;

(vii)     taking an intersectional approach and commit to tackling the systemic discrimination and disproportionality faced by specific groups of care experienced people;

(viii)    the impact on people with other protected characteristics such as race, sexual orientation or disability, as well as issues of intersectional or multiple discrimination;

(ix)      the scope for a trial scheme for a basic income pilot for care leavers, as piloted by the Welsh Government; and

(x)      requesting the Government to ensure full funding that is needed to meet all the recommendations of the independent review of children’s social care by Josh MacAlister.