Agenda item

Youth Council

(time limit 20 minutes)

 

Protected Characteristics for Care Experience

Many care experienced people face discrimination, stigma, and prejudice in their day to day lives. Public perceptions of care experience centre on the idea that we are irredeemably damaged and that can lead to discrimination and assumptions being made.

We do realise discrimination we face often comes from unbiased prejudice and what is reported about care experienced people.   For instance, despite care experienced people making up around 1.4 per cent of the UK population, they account for 25 per cent of homeless people in England and a quarter of the prison population. Nearly half of all under 21-year-olds in contact with the criminal justice system have been in care.

When we look at the statistics like these it’s easy to see why people make assumptions about the likely characteristics of children and adults that have care experience. Issues around school attainment, and behaviour within school of some in the care system will lead to the way care experience is discussed in schools, workplaces, and the media.  However, we are not statistics, we are just young people struggling with everyday life like everyone else.

We feel that when things go wrong it is expected due to our circumstances, but if things go right, we succeed despite our circumstances.  Care experienced young people don’t want our care being mentioned or used as an excuse, as it makes people look at us differently.  Comments like “You’re smart - for a kid in care” and “it’s understandable with what you deal with”, make us want to pretend to be someone else. 

When we talk with colleagues in schools and as part of the Children in Care Council, we have realised that the discrimination and unconscious bias, at its worst, can lead to care experienced people being refused employment, failing to succeed in education or facing unfair judgements about our ability to live independently or even to have families of their own.  Designating care experience a protected characteristic would mean decision-makers would have to consider the needs of care experienced young people more seriously and have to consider how their decisions and polices affect people with care experience.

This discrimination, that they have experienced, is similar in nature to other groups that have a legally protected characteristic under the Equality Act (2010). So, while there may be ways that society can help reduce stigma and discrimination, including creating greater public consciousness on these issues, just as with other areas of equality, there is a case to go further. Therefore, the Council should make care experience a protected characteristic for Oldham.

We propose that the council notes:

  • Care experienced people face significant barriers that impact them throughout their lives.
  • Despite the resilience of many care experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account and often face discrimination and stigma across housing, health, education, relationships, employment and in the criminal justice system;
  • As corporate parents, councillors and officers have a collective responsibility for providing the best possible care and safeguarding for Oldham’s children and young people who are looked after by the authority.
  • All corporate parents should commit to acting as mentors, hearing the voices of looked after children and young people and to consider their needs in all aspect of council work.
  • Councillors should be champions of the children in our care and challenge the negative attitudes and prejudice that exists in all aspects of society.

We propose that the Council therefore resolves:  

  • That it recognises that care experienced people are a group who are likely to face discrimination.
  • That it recognises that Councils have a duty to put the needs of disadvantaged people at the heart of decision-making through co-production and collaboration.
  • That future decision, services and policies made and adopted by the Council should be assessed through Equality Impact Assessments to determine the impact of changes on people with care experience, alongside those who formally share a protected characteristic.
  • 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.
  • That this Council will treat care experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic.
  • To formally call upon all other bodies to treat care experience as a protected characteristic until such time as it may be introduced by legislation.
  • For the council to continue proactively seeking out and listening to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies based on their views.

Minutes:

The Youth Council PROPOSED the following MOTION:

Protected Characteristics for Care Experience

Many care experienced people face discrimination, stigma, and prejudice in their day to day lives. Public perceptions of care experience centre on the idea that we are irredeemably damaged and that can lead to discrimination and assumptions being made.

We do realise discrimination we face often comes from unbiased prejudice and what is reported about care experienced people.   For instance, despite care experienced people making up around 1.4 per cent of the UK population, they account for 25 per cent of homeless people in England and a quarter of the prison population. Nearly half of all under 21-year-olds in contact with the criminal justice system have been in care.

When we look at the statistics like these it’s easy to see why people make assumptions about the likely characteristics of children and adults that have care experience. Issues around school attainment, and behaviour within school of some in the care system will lead to the way care experience is discussed in schools, workplaces, and the media.  However, we are not statistics, we are just young people struggling with everyday life like everyone else.

We feel that when things go wrong it is expected due to our circumstances, but if things go right, we succeed despite our circumstances.  Care experienced young people don’t want our care being mentioned or used as an excuse, as it makes people look at us differently.  Comments like “You’re smart - for a kid in care” and “it’s understandable with what you deal with”, make us want to pretend to be someone else. 

When we talk with colleagues in schools and as part of the Children in Care Council, we have realised that the discrimination and unconscious bias, at its worst, can lead to care experienced people being refused employment, failing to succeed in education or facing unfair judgements about our ability to live independently or even to have families of their own.  Designating care experience a protected characteristic would mean decision-makers would have to consider the needs of care experienced young people more seriously and have to consider how their decisions and polices affect people with care experience.

This discrimination, that they have experienced, is similar in nature to other groups that have a legally protected characteristic under the Equality Act (2010). So, while there may be ways that society can help reduce stigma and discrimination, including creating greater public consciousness on these issues, just as with other areas of equality, there is a case to go further. Therefore, the Council should make care experience a protected characteristic for Oldham.

We propose that the council notes:

  • Care experienced people face significant barriers that impact them throughout their lives.
  • Despite the resilience of many care experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account and often face discrimination and stigma across housing, health, education, relationships, employment and in the criminal justice system;
  • As corporate parents, councillors and officers have a collective responsibility for providing the best possible care and safeguarding for Oldham’s children and young people who are looked after by the authority.
  • All corporate parents should commit to acting as mentors, hearing the voices of looked after children and young people and to consider their needs in all aspect of council work.
  • Councillors should be champions of the children in our care and challenge the negative attitudes and prejudice that exists in all aspects of society.

The Youth Council proposed that the Council resolves:  

a.    That it recognises that care experienced people are a group who are likely to face discrimination.

b.    That it recognises that Councils have a duty to put the needs of disadvantaged people at the heart of decision-making through co-production and collaboration.

c.    That future decision, services and policies made and adopted by the Council should be assessed through Equality Impact Assessments to determine the impact of changes on people with care experience, alongside those who formally share a protected characteristic.

d.    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.

e.    That this Council will treat care experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic.

f.     To formally call upon all other bodies to treat care experience as a protected characteristic until such time as it may be introduced by legislation.

g.    For the council to continue proactively seeking out and listening to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies based on their views.

 

Councillor Birch spoke in support of the Motion

Councillor Byrne spoke in support of the Motion

Councillor H. Gloster spoke in support of the Motion

 

Councillor Birch MOVED and Councillor H. Gloster SECONDED the MOTION as presented by the Youth Council.

 

RESOLVED

1.    That it recognises that care experienced people are a group who are likely to face discrimination.

2.    That it recognises that Councils have a duty to put the needs of disadvantaged people at the heart of decision-making through co-production and collaboration.

3.    That future decision, services and policies made and adopted by the Council should be assessed through Equality Impact Assessments to determine the impact of changes on people with care experience, alongside those who formally share a protected characteristic.

4.    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.

5.    That this Council will treat care experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic.

6.    To formally call upon all other bodies to treat care experience as a protected characteristic until such time as it may be introduced by legislation.

7.    For the council to continue proactively seeking out and listening to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies based on their views.