Agenda item

To debate any motions submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rules.

The following two Motions, one from the Administration and one from the Labour Group, will be debated:

Conservative Administration Motion

This Council RESOLVES:

That the Administration is getting Croydon moving.

Labour Group Motion

Croydon Council welcomes the campaign ‘Treating Care Experienced as a Protected Characteristic’. Despite the resilience of many care-experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account and they often face discrimination and stigma across housing, health, education, relationships, employment and in the criminal justice system. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as councils, to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation of people with protected characteristics.

Croydon has a large population of children and young people in care and care leavers. As corporate parents, councillors have a collective responsibility for providing the best possible care and safeguarding for the children who are looked after by us as an authority. Councillors should be mentors and champions of our looked after children and challenge the negative attitudes and prejudice that exist in all aspects of society.

Croydon Council therefore RESOLVES:

1.     When making any decisions in relation to its policies or formulating its Business Plan, that it recognises that care-experienced people are a vulnerable group which faces discrimination.

2.     That it has a duty to put the needs of vulnerable people at the heart of decision-making through co-production and collaboration.

3.     That in the delivery of the Public Sector Equality Duty the Council includes the 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.

4.     It will treat care experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic and review its Equality Impact Assessment process so that future services and policies made an adopted by the Council are assessed to determine the impact of changes on people with care experience, alongside those who formally share a Protected Characteristic.

5.     To formally call upon all Croydon partner organisations to adopt corporate parenting values / processes for children in care and care experienced people and to treat care experience as a Protected Characteristic until such time as it may be introduced by legislation.

6.     To follow best practice in reporting education, health, housing and employment outcomes of care-experienced people in Croydon.

7.     To proactively seek out and listen to the voices of care-experienced people when developing new policies based on their views.

Should the motion be approved, we call on the Executive Mayor to ensure that councillors be updated on progress on the above 7 points before the end of the civic year, including on how services’ processes, ways of working and culture have been embedded to recognise care-experience as a protected characteristic.

Moving the Conservative Group Debate Motion Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Lynne Hale, stated that the council had a long way to go but that it was taking difficult decisions to balance the books, transform services, and provide proper housing services.

Councillor Hale argued that the council was well on the way to doing less but doing better, which had been demonstrated by the improved Housing Transformation Programme, which involved proper engagement with residents, whom Councillor Hale thanked for the time and energy they had committed to the project.

On behalf of the Opposition, Councillor Callton Young, argued that the Mayor was unwilling to share his powers with his Cabinet and that was holding back progress. Councillor Young argued that the Mayor’s key manifesto pledges had not been fulfilled, and that high street stores remained closed, and Purley Pool was yet to be reopened.

Councillor Alasdair Stewart, seconding the motion, stated that the programme of London Borough of Culture events taking place across Croydon this year were demonstrable of the improvements and enthusiasm of residents. Councillor Stewart also mentioned such successes as the plans for Westfield opening in the town centre, the Public Space Protection Orders that were in place, the plans for reopening Purley Pool, and the new approach to planning applications.

Councillor Stewart King, Leader of the Opposition, stated that on the contrary the situation for Croydon’s residents had worsened, citing the 15% increase in Council Tax despite the recognised cost-of-living crisis, cuts to council services, the lack of Levelling-Up Funding, and failed manifesto pledges.

Exercising her right of reply, Councillor Hale argued that the Administration had delivered on balancing the budget, adopting the Mayor’s Business Plan, brought back Westfield, restoring PSPOs, scrapped Planning guidelines which had brought misery to residents, restored the graffiti removal service, opposed the Ultra Low Emissions Zone, approved Early Years and anti-Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, begun improvement work on the Regina Road estate, were putting in place a new waste and street cleansing contract, strengthening contract management and procurement, approved a strategy to tackle homelessness, were winding up Brick by Brick, and had agreed an asset disposal plan to recoup financial losses.

The Chair called Council to vote on the Motion, and member RESOLVED, with 31 votes in favour and 35 against, not to agree the motion.

Councillor Catherine Wilson then moved the Labour Group Motion, declaring that social work was not about box-ticking and meeting targets, but it was about ensuring the children in social care succeeded and had real prospects for achieving in life. Councillor Wilson spoke about how children in care struggled to get support, and that the system was designed against them. Councillor Wilson spoke about how she had seen young people denied services due to the care leaver status, and that they should be recognised as a vulnerable group.

Councillor Joseph Lee, on behalf of the Administration, stated that he and his colleagues had attended a number of events to gain a better understanding of the issues, and that they were doing all they could to navigate the legacy issues involved. Councillor Lee stated that it was important to recognise the wishes of the individual, and that a catch-all label for young people with these experiences was not always appropriate. Councillor Lee also mentioned the personal responsibility of members as Corporate Parents to ensure that vulnerable young people were afforded the same life opportunities as others.

Councillor Janet Campbell, seconding the motion, told members how she had proudly served as a foster carer, providing a nurturing and stable environment for children in need. Councillor Campbell described how she had experienced the lack of support and poor service provided to care-experience young people by the local authorities, and that she had known some young people who were told they needed to register as homeless before they were offered housing support. Councillor Campbell asserted that young people should be recognised as valuable and with potential to achieve, and that the council should uphold the principles of equality and fairness.

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Councillor Maria Gatland, asserted that the Corporate Parenting agenda was a top priority, and that Children’s Services must be improved to properly serve the borough’s care-experienced young people. Councillor Gatland informed members that a strategy had been developed which signals a whole-council approach, with plans for a care-experienced young person as the co-chair of a refreshed Corporate Parenting Panel. Councillor Gatland agreed to bring this motion to the Corporate Parenting Panel for consideration and to consult and listen to the needs of care leavers.

Councillor Wilson closed the debate, stating that there was no hidden agenda by the Corporate Parenting Panel of which she was a member; the members simply wanted the best outcomes for the borough’s care-experienced young people.

The Chair put the motion to the vote and Council RESOLVED, unanimously to support the motion.

In his final response to the outcome of the vote, Mayor Jason Perry agreed that supporting care leavers should be a priority, but stated that the reality was that this was not how the council had treated young people in the past. The Mayor stated that the current and future housing provision needed to be looked at, and that the council should be encouraging young people to become independent.