Care leavers granted 'protected characteristic' status by Bedford Borough Council

Bedford Borough Council took a significant step forward last night in its support for care-experienced young people, as confirmed by a motion that received cross-party support at Full Council on July 12, 2023. The motion solidifies the Council's commitment to prioritising the well-being of care-experienced young people at the heart of everything the Council does.

The commitments include the Council helping prevent discrimination by treating care experience as if it were a ‘Protected Characteristic’. The motion allowed the council to become one of only forty in the country to recognise care-experienced people as a group who are subject to discrimination and protect them from this.

Cllr Tim Caswell, who seconded the motion for the Liberal Democrat Group, said “The voices of the care experienced people we have heard tonight are the most important in this debate. Beyond the complexity of modern language this motion says we should listen to them, hear what they say and treat them fairly as equals to people who have not experienced being in care. It is not about pity or empathy, it is about social solidarity.”

During his speech Cllr Caswell shared some of the statistics that show why this motion is needed. Care experienced people make up around 1% of the population, but 25% of adults in prison have been through the care system. Care experienced people are four times as likely to have mental health problems and also around four times less likely to go to university than the rest of the population. 25% of homeless people have had care experience.

Cllr Caswell continued “This motion follows important policy passed by this council in 2017: ceasing to charge Council Tax to care leavers until they are 25. I hope that this policy continues and with this motion we can begin to break down the boundaries that care experienced people face. I have seen the difference that a protected characteristic can make in housing and I hope we pass this, and that other councils do the same and that the government can put this into national laws as soon as possible.”