CHILDREN AND HELP AVAILABLE UNDER s17 CHILDREN ACT 2014
Number of intractable enquiries from non-UK families with children, suffering/hunger caused by
Covid pandemic
Come to us from food bank
People who cannot claim benefits, so falling behind with rent, unable to work, child care or illness
issues, so unable to provide for their families
Destitution: you cannot maintain a roof over your head nor feed yourself.
These can be:
No recourse to public funds – people with leave to remain or other visas eg spousal, with
restrictions, able to work but lost jobs or have reduced hours due to Covid, plus child care issues.
Zambrano carers - a third country national caring for an UK child in the UK - NRPF
Asylum cases – were possibly working cash in hand, work dried up and now unable to pay rent
EU citizens with children and homeless – eg came to the UK just before the pandemic broke out,
finding they cannot work nor claim benefits, children too young to allow parents to work.
What are public funds: (this is not a definitive list)
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Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
Income support
Child tax credit
Universal credit
Working tax credit
A social fund payment
Child benefit
Housing benefit
Council tax benefit
Council tax reduction
State pension credit
Attendance allowance
Severe disablement allowance
Personal independence payment
Carer’s allowance
Disability living allowance/PIP
An allocation of local authority housing
Local authority homelessness assistance
Not public funds:
state school education,
benefits based on NI contributions,
emergency NHS treatment
care assessed as necessary (Care Act 2014).
We are not going to look at the immigration side much here, but at possible solutions, so when we
advise, we ask the right questions first.
Re EU citizens who are facing destitution: The term NRPF doesn’t apply to those from within the EU.
For EU citizens to claim benefits to avoid destitution they must be “qualified”.
Re Zambrano carers who apply for EUSS: Will NOT get EUSS status if they never made a human rights
application or were refused and their circ changed and they could now make a HR application.
Children Act 1989 places the child’s welfare at the centre of any decisions made by those concerned
with child welfare, eg local authorities.
Eg in homelessness decisions, the reason why local authorities usually help a family in need is
because of the duty to the children not the adult, who may have been partly culpable in their
homelessness.
Children Act 2004 S11
(2) Each person and body to whom this section applies must make arrangements for ensuring that—
(a) their functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of
children; and
(b) any services provided by another person pursuant to arrangements made by the person or body in the
discharge of their functions are provided having regard to that need.
Under Section 17 Children Act 1989, a child will be considered in need if:
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they are unlikely to achieve or maintain or to have the opportunity to achieve or maintain a
reasonable standard of health or development without provision of services from the Local
Authority;
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their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired,
without the provision of services from the Local Authority;
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they have a disability.
THIS DESCRIBES AT WHAT POINT A CHILD MIGHT BE CONSIDERED AS NEEDING HELP. WHEN A CHILD
HAS NO HOME OR IS HUNGRY – SECTION 17 MAY BE TRIGGERED.
Children Act Section 17 (1):
It shall be the general duty of every Local Authority:
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to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need; and
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so far as is reasonably consistent with that duty, to promote the upbringing of such children
by their families, by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s
needs.
THIS IS WHAT SOCIAL SERVICES IS MEANT TO DO: OFFER SERVICES TO FAMILIES IN NEED, EG
HOMEWORK CLUBS, NURSERY PLACES, FAMILY THERAPY, AND IN OUR SCENARIOS,
ACCOMMODATION
Children Act Section 17 (3):
Any service provided by a Local Authority may be provided for the family of a particular child in need
or for any family member, if it is provided with a view to safeguarding or promoting the child’s
welfare
THIS MEANS HELP MIGHT BE OFFERED TO THE PARENTS OF THE CHILD IN NEED, AWARE THAT THIS
HELP WILL BENEFIT THE CHILD.
So, where a person with a child or children is struggling to accommodate and feed their family, S17
can be invoked, and we can do that by emailing Ealing Social Services or using the Ealing
Safeguarding Children Partnership website. We want an assessment to be made, which will result in
help being offered, which can consist of cash or accommodation.
Social services will provide help on an emergency basis only, until the underlying issue is resolved.
So let us look at a couple of scenarios to see if S17 helps the client:
SOURCES OF INFO AND LINKS
https://www.project17.org.uk/media/67644/S17-Flowchart.pdf
https://www.childrenslegalcentre.com/resources/section-17-support/
http://guidance.nrpfnetwork.org.uk/reader/practice-guidance-adults/eligibility-for-otherservices/#154-nhs-treatment