A motion calling for Cornwall Council to treat care experience as a protected characteristic has been submitted to full council by a cross-party group of councillors.

If adopted, the motion will give formal recognition in Cornwall to ‘young people in care’ and ‘care experienced people’ as additional characteristics – alongside others including age, disability, religion and sexual orientation – to be considered in all equality impact assessments carried out during the council’s decision-making and policy-making process.

The motion also calls for the council to put people with care experience at the heart of that process, as well as working with external bodies to ensure people with care experience are not left out.

The motion was proposed by Mevagissey and St Austell Bay Cornwall Councillor James Mustoe (Cons), and seconded by Cllr Kate Ewert (Lab, Rame Peninsula & St Germans).

Cllr Mustoe spoke movingly at last week’s full council meeting about his own experience in the care system. “One of the most important roles we as councillors have is as corporate parents: assuming parental responsibility as an organisation for those children and young people who find themselves in care,” he said.

Cllr Mustoe was also re-elected for a third year as chairman of the council’s Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee. “As a person with previous experience in care, I find myself in a unique and privileged position to be part of the system that supported me and supports many other young people every day throughout Cornwall.

“Being able to talk to other young people in that experience, and give something back, is a very powerful thing for me.”

James went into care and was adopted at a very young age. “People say you cannot choose your own family, but through my time in care, my family chose me, and I am forever grateful that they did,” he said. “I have always known that I was adopted, and consider my adoptive family to be my actual family.”

He has nonetheless felt the lasting impact of his personal circumstances. “You might only be in care for a short amount of time, but the experience stays with you for a lifetime,” he says. “When my eldest son was born in 2008, I realised I was looking for the first time at someone who was actually related to me.” With the support of his adoptive parents, he sought members of his biological family, and is still in touch with them. 

While he enjoyed a comfortable and stable upbringing, James recognises his experience is not universal of care leavers. “I consider myself very lucky that I am where I am - with a flip of a coin, I could have been somewhere very different,” he said. 

“Young people in and leaving care continue to be amongst the most disadvantaged in our society. They have missed out on the family base that prepares children to succeed in wider society, in terms of both financial and pastoral support.”

Housing policy is one of the key areas in which James hopes protected status will help care leavers. “People with care experience as children are also massively more likely to end up as homeless adults. I would hope this would be a tick in the box that would prioritise them on the social housing ladder.” 

Cllr Mustoe said Cornwall was already leading the way in supporting young people in care, with performance in key indicators for care leavers amongst the very best in the country. “But there is more to be done,” he added. 

“We want to ensure that the impact on these groups is considered from the start when services are commissioned, in the same way as other protected and additional characteristics currently are. It will save money in the long run - if we are helping people earlier, we won’t have to intervene at a later stage.” 

The motion will now go to Cornwall Council’s cabinet for further scrutiny, and is expected to be adopted formally later this year.