The Council has been notified that Motion 2 on the Full Council agenda for 24 November has been withdrawn by the mover and seconder.
This statement has been shared with us by the ruling administration:
Councillor Chris Barnfather, Business Manager for the Nottinghamshire County Council Conservative Group, said:
“Nottinghamshire County Council was approached in early November by Mr Terry Galloway, himself a ‘care experienced person’ to support his initiative to secure ‘protected characteristic’ status for all ‘care experienced individuals’ on a national basis.
“We are aware that he has also approached many other local authorities around the country to further this ambition.
“The Conservative administration at County Hall, aware of Mr Galloway’s long history of advocating for a level playing field for such individuals and with whom we have worked positively over a long period of time, agreed to support his initiative in a constructive fashion, by agreeing to propose a motion at their next Full Council on 24th November 2022.
“The motion was intended to enshrine the ethos of recognising that ‘care experienced people’ have and may continue to face significant barriers throughout their lives and that additional consideration should be offered to them, that their needs and indeed those of any vulnerable person, should be at the heart of all our decision making and that we should actively seek out their views when developing new policies.
“Despite no other political group at Nottinghamshire County Council having submitted a request to debate this matter, regrettably Mr Galloway does not feel that this motion goes far enough in its current form, without the wording including ‘support treating care experience as a protected characteristic in equality impact assessments’.
“Indeed, he has written to the council requesting that in the absence of this phraseology being included within the motion, that he would prefer that the administration withdraw their motion and not debate the matter at their meeting on 24th November 2022.
“Whilst the council fully understands the importance of the term ‘protected characteristic’ to Mr Galloway, the term itself is a statutory definition predicated upon an individual’s personal physical and/or emotional characteristics rather than their life experiences and having consulted with relevant government agencies do not feel that the term is appropriate in the circumstances as outlined.
“Therefore, in accordance with Mr Galloway’s stated wishes, we have taken the decision to withdraw the motion from the agenda.
“We remain committed to working with Mr Galloway in the future to ensure that all vulnerable people, including those who have care experience, remain at the forefront of our thinking and are not disadvantaged in any way by the policies, strategies and actions of Nottinghamshire County Council.”
