People living in Dudley borough who have been in care during childhood are set to get additional support and services from Dudley Council.

Cabinet approved making the care experience a protected characteristic in Dudley borough for children and adults who have been in care, when it met last week.

Following approval, ‘care experienced’ will be added as an additional characteristic in Dudley borough, joining other protected characteristics under the Equality Act (2010), such as age, disability, race, and religion.

Now approved as a protected characteristic, any future decisions, services, or new policies made and adopted by the council will be carefully assessed to determine the impact of changes on people with care experience.

The move will make Dudley Council the third authority in the West Midlands to declare care experienced people as a group who face discrimination. It will join Telford and Wrekin and Birmingham City Council, who have both successfully adopted measures to give the protected status. Councillor Ruth Buttery, cabinet member for children’s services and education, said:

"As a council we have made a commitment to the children of this borough that they will be at the heart of all we do, as we strive to make this borough child friendly. We are also mindful that as a council we are corporate parents, and as any parent we want the absolute best for our children.

"So it is in this light that we have agreed to make care experience a protected characteristic, recognising not just the trauma that children have gone through, which has meant they have had to come into the care of the council, but also their incredible determination and resilience as they go forward in life.

"By recognising care experience as a protected characteristic we are giving children this additional support and care, as we would want for our own children, because they are our children, and I thank my colleagues for their support."