Settle’s response to Government's Care Review Strategy
This week, the government has published its response to the Care Review. As a charity focused on supporting care-experienced young people in the transition to living independently and preventing homelessness, Settle welcomes the direction of some of the government’s proposals. This includes the increase in the leaving care allowance to £3000 and the removal of the local connection requirement and intentionally homelessness test for care leavers accessing social housing.
However, we are concerned that the proposals pledged do not go far enough. Every day, we see young people leaving the care system without the right levels of support they need to build their adult lives. This results in a third of care leavers becoming homeless within 2 years of leaving care, and with the number of children in care set to rise by 2025, this will mean even more young people facing a cliff edge of support.
In addition, we’re disappointed that the government has rejected the recommendation to make care-experience a protected characteristic. We’re heartened that more than 10 councils across the country have passed motions treating care experience as a protected characteristic. We will continue to support this campaign led by Terry Galloway and hope to see more local authorities make the case locally to challenge the discrimination faced by care-experienced people.
Rich Grahame, Chief Executive at Settle says:
“If we are to eliminate homelessness amongst care-experienced people – an entirely attainable goal – the ambition and investment by the government needs to go much further. The government’s pledge of £200 million falls drastically short of the £2.6bn of investment called by the Care Review, and continues the underfunding of the system that lets down children and young people, and prevents them from building stable and thriving lives.”