Terry Galloway

UPDATE: Councils that have passed the motion to Treat Care Experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic.

“we will continue to pay the price both in human lives and public finances” unless the failure starts being treated as a whole-system responsibility. ‘When a single placement for one child reaches £1.1 million in a year, it shows just how broken and unsustainable the current system has become’ nottinghampost.com/news/nottingha…

AI could model the cost of inequality in government policy. I'm developing a concept for a system that helps governments run Equality Impact Assessments while modelling long term public costs across housing, welfare, health and justice. It compares two trajectories: do nothing vs early intervention, showing where preventative policy reduces public spending. @xai @elonmusk

UPDATE: Hugely successful workshops in Manchester and Birmingham on 'Treating Care Experience as a Protected Characteristic' We have been able to gather an enormous amount of feedback on local authority progress in treating care experience as a protected characteristic, including the areas that are most tricky, ideas and examples about how this could be embedded across services and some of the ways that the impact can be measured. We will be gathering the feedback into an output summary in the coming weeks. This project is about creating a toolkit for councils that have passed the motion. Thank you to everyone that took part. 38 Local Authorities were involved in this Policy Lab from across England, Wales and Scotland as part of the @CoopInnovation and led by @SwindonCouncil, myself, @WiganCouncil . @cardiffcouncil , @ManCityCounci, @plymouthcc and Anthony Collins Solicitos

@lemnsissay I'd hazard a guess when there is major tournaments when there is alcohol, when chilrden return to school following holidays. But really interesting question.

This is an open request to anyone working in social work or in university social work departments. Which month or months do you receive the most demand for children to be admitted into the care system? And one more question. Which is the most demanding month in terms of workload?

@Gemmazzburgh Brilliant

@TerryGalloway Me and Sarah are coming to Birmingham! 🔥🔥🎆

There are over 130 Councils that have passed the motions to "Treat Care Experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic" We owe it to Care Experienced People to create impact..... Here is your opportunity to share best practice and generate impact, help create Systemic Change.... Book NOW @ Manchester 26th Feb 2026 - 10AM eventbrite.co.uk/e/198046540433…

@Kerrie26906158 @BigIssue Well done Kerri

Beyond proud and excited to have been selected as a @BigIssue #Changemaker 2026 in the Housing and Homelessness category!!!

@JimGoddard1 @TogetherTrust Exactly @JimGoddard1

@TerryGalloway @TogetherTrust Well done with the flying lesson, Terry. I'd find it scary but it also looks exhilarating. There's a metaphor in my head about care leavers reaching for the sky but your pictures do it better. As you imply, sometimes, when you've grown up in care, the good things come later.

I remember asking my key worker at Lerryn, a children’s home run by @TogetherTrust , what the best job a care leaver had ever gone on to do after living there. They did not really know. We talked about education. We talked about different jobs. I remember asking if anyone had become “a pilot”, almost as a hypothetical, rather than something grounded in real experience. It struck me that no one could point to what care leavers had actually gone on to achieve. At the time, I fancied the idea of being a computer programmer, but if I am honest, I had no real idea what I would do when I grew up. What I did know was that I wanted to go to university and get a degree. I would have loved to have worn the mortarboard for real. I loved school, but I never managed to sustain it. I had lived in so many places. I left education at 15 with no qualifications. I did not even get any GCSEs. The only educational achievement I was genuinely proud of was my cycling proficiency test when I was 11. I had to pass it or I was not allowed out of the grounds of the children’s home. Today, I took my first flying lesson. Not because I ever expected to become a pilot, but because that long-ago conversation came back to me. When you grow up in care, futures often feel abstract, uncharted, and quietly bounded by what no one around you can see. I so wanted to achieve. This is not about flying planes. It is about possibility. It is about how low expectations take hold, and how long they can stay with you. To any care-experienced young person reading this, your past does not define the limits of your future. Not the placements. Not the moves. Not the qualifications you did or did not get. Sometimes the dreams just arrive later. #CareLeaversCan

RESERVE YOUR SPOT Treating Care Experience as a Protected Characteristic. Dates & Locations: Manchester – 26th February 2026, 10am-3pm Birmingham – 5th March 2026, 10am-3pm Shape the future for care-experienced people: Exploring how local authorities can Treat Care Experience as a Protected Characteristic. Local authorities are exploring how to better support care-experienced people. Through the Co-operative Councils Innovation Network (CCIN) a series of interactive workshops are being hosted designed to help local authorities embed care experience as a protected characteristic, and we want you to be part of it. Why Attend? Learn from pioneers: Hear from other authorities already leading the way and discover practical steps to implement change Shape the future: Contribute to developing a framework for measuring impact and improving outcomes for care-experienced young people Collaborate and share: Engage in peer discussions, exchange ideas, and build a toolkit of best practices Who Should Join? Corporate parenting leads, Children’s Services or Corporate Policy leads, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) officers, Councillor portfolio holders. What to Expect: Inspiring talks from campaigners and care-experienced voices Practical activities to explore progress and design change Collaborative sessions on measuring impact and embedding policy Networking with peers across local authorities Free to attend, including refreshments and a networking lunch. Reserve Your Spot: Manchester: eventbrite.co.uk/e/198046540433… Birmingham: eventbrite.co.uk/e/198046600814… Upcoming Statutory Guidance on Corporate Parenting will include best practice from Councils that are Treating Care Experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic.

We are working with Department for Culture, Media and Sport on their annual Community and Engagement Survey going out to a potential 208,000 people 16+ across England. Care Experience will be in the equality monitoring part of this survey for the first time, this will enable rich data capture on participation and outcomes for Care Experienced People which can then be turned into meaningful actions by Corporate Parents and others. However we need a definition of what Care Experience is, that is clear and unambiguous so that the questions can be set, then potentially harmonised across government data collection. This is going to be hard, but is needed. Over the next few weeks I want to talk to as many people as possible. Kicking things off, we have meeting next Wednesday. Please register your interest if this is an area you would like to contribute to. AND post here or PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOUR DEFINITION OF CARE EXPERIENCE IS HERE ngforms.co.uk/definition/ For more information on the Community and Engagement Survey gov.uk/guidance/commu…

Terry Galloway, who led a campaign for local authorities to treat care experience as a protected characteristic, said the amendment was intended to give a voice to care-experienced people outside of children’s social care departments, “where policy-makers don’t even know that we exist”. cypnow.co.uk/content/news/i…

South Lanarkshire Council 🔈 It's time to treat care experience as a protected characteristic! Care experienced people face stigma & discrimination in employment, housing & education. Councils like Falkirk & many others Angus being the latest already do this. Join them to #KeepThePromise & build a fairer Scotland. @SouthLanarkshire Why South Lanarkshire Council should make care experience a protected characteristic⬇️ @JoeJFagan @jmreilly68 @gavkeatt @MonicaLennon7 Care-experienced people in Scotland often face lifelong stigma and discrimination - for example in jobs, housing, education, and beyond. We are talking about some of the most vulnerable members of our society. We must never forget and at the same time always remember that they didn't choose care. Yet they carry burdens and barriers that affect their opportunities. Making care experience a protected characteristic (like age, disability or race) would ⬇️ @ccwild79 @TerryGalloway Require the council to assess policies for impact on care experienced residents. Protect against direct/indirect discrimination This will Send a powerful message of support and equality. Joe young 7/1/2026

@swrb1 @JimGoddard1 Totally relevant, thank you. Have amended.

@TerryGalloway @JimGoddard1 Terry - this looks great! Probably an irrelevant point but shouldn’t your constitution add ‘MPs and Members of House of Lords’ in the full member category? I see they are listed as such elsewhere in papers? Meant to be helpful and not pedantic. All the very best Richard

ANNOUNCEMENT Third meeting of our Group in the House of Lords on 15th January to coincide with amendments to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.... Register here ngforms.co.uk/westminster Expression of Interests go out tomorrow... Clause 21, page 39, line 28 at end insert— “(e) to have due regard to the need to remove or minimise the disadvantages suffered by looked-after children and relevant young persons.” Member's explanatory statement This amendment strengthens the current duty to be “alert to” the needs of looked-after children by requiring public bodies to have due regard to removing or reducing the disadvantages they face. It builds on awareness by turning it into action, ensuring that understanding leads to measurable improvement. This approach embeds care-experienced voices in decision-making and creates a shared responsibility across agencies, helping to break down silo working and deliver joined-up support. bills.parliament.uk/bills/3909/sta… Clause 21, page 39, line 34 at end insert— “(2A) A relevant authority exercising the duty under subsection (1) must take reasonable steps to avoid, reduce or otherwise mitigate any adverse impact of its policies and practices on looked-after children and relevant young persons.” Member's explanatory statement This amendment ensures that public bodies move beyond being merely aware of care-experienced young people’s needs to taking reasonable and practical steps to prevent harm caused by their policies. It complements the cultural aims of the Bill by providing a clear framework for shared action and accountability. By requiring active consideration of how decisions affect care-experienced people, it will amplify their voices, strengthen collaboration, and provide a mechanism to break down silo working across education, health, housing, and social care. bills.parliament.uk/bills/3909/sta… After Clause 27 insert the following new Clause— “Care-experience in equality impact assessments (1) A public authority undertaking an impact assessment in the exercise of its duties under— (a) section 149 of the Equality Act 2020; (b) the Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011; (c) the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012; (d) section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998; must include an assessment of the impact on persons who are or have been looked after by a local authority.” Member's explanatory statement By including Care Experience in Equality Impact Assessments, this amendment provides a mechanism that public bodies already understand and use, helping to support the extension of Corporate Parenting responsibilities in a way that is structured, measurable, and embedded in existing decision-making processes. bills.parliament.uk/bills/3909/sta…

👀 ‘We will not feel safe on our street’ says resident as cul-de-sac property to be turned into vulnerable children’s home nottinghampost.com/news/local-new…

@lemnsissay Congratulations @lemnsissay

Today I met my Godson for the first time. His name is Elijah, son of Carnel and Sophie. Thank you for this wonderful life.

Jack Russell Cam. Toby, Tesse, Besse and Lucy. Besse and Lucy are still looking for their forever home. Pls DM. They have so much love to give. Please share.

Angus Council have passed Care experienced as if it's a protected characteristic!! 8th Scottish Council woohoo! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🎆✨️Cha tèid an rud a tha leatsa seachad ort 🎆✨️ what's for you, won't go by you #anguscouncil #careexperiencedasaprotectedcharacteristic #careexperienced