Services to children and to
those leaving care
by
Kelvin Rutledge
Presented by
Catherine Rowlands
Children Act 1989, Part III
17(1) It shall be the general duty of every local authority
(in addition to the other duties imposed on them by
this Part) —
(a) to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
within their area who are in need; and
(b) so far as is 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.”
17(10) For the purposes of this Part a child shall be taken
to be in need if –
(a) he is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or to have the
opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable
standard of health or development without the provision
for him of services by a local authority under this Part;
(b) his health or development is likely to be significantly
impaired, or further impaired, without the provision for
him of such services; or
(c) he is disabled, ...”.
Children Act 1989, Part III
20(1) (1) Every local authority shall provide
accommodation for any child in need within their area
who appears to them to require accommodation as a
result of—
(a) there being no person who has parental
responsibility for him;
(b) his being lost or having been abandoned; or
(c) the person who has been caring for him being
prevented (whether or not permanently, and for whatever
reason) from providing him with suitable
accommodation or care.”
20(3) Every local authority shall provide
accommodation for any child in need within their
area who has reached the age of sixteen and
whose welfare the authority consider is likely to be
seriously prejudiced if they do not provide him with
accommodation.”
Subsection (4) empowers a local authority to
provide accommodation “… for any child within
their area (even though a person who has parental
responsibility for him is able to provide him with
accommodation) if they consider that to do so
would safeguard or promote the child's welfare.”
An evaluative judgment for the local
authority
“It is apparent at once that in addition to several matters which might be
characterised as pure matters of fact, there are substantial and important areas
where social working judgments have to be made, e.g. ‘in need’, ‘require
accommodation’. Looking at the section itself the preponderant elements are those
which require answers from persons experienced in the area with expertise borne of
specialist qualifications and experience. Even limiting myself to section 20, the task
involved is ‘a classic exercise of administrative discretion’ involving the provision of
a valuable, but often limited, local authority resource, some form of accommodation.”
A v Croydon LBC & M v Lambeth per Ward LJ at para 76
c/f Baroness Hale in G v Southwark
A voluntary scheme
Subsection (7) prohibits a local authority from providing
accommodation under this section for any child if any person
who—
“(a) has parental responsibility for him; and
(b) is willing and able to—
(i) provide accommodation for him; or
(ii) arrange for accommodation to be provided for him,
objects.”
R(M) v Hammersmith & Fulham LBC
The child’s wishes
Subsection (6) provides:
“… before providing accommodation under this section, a local authority
shall, so far as is reasonably practicable and consistent with the child's
welfare—
(a) ascertain the child's wishes and feelings regarding the provision of
accommodation; and
(b) give due consideration (having regard to his age and understanding)
to such wishes and feelings of the child as they have been able to
ascertain.”
R(Liverpool CC) v London Borough of Hillingdon
“It would appear from what has been communicated to
the defendant that he wants a place to live, a phone and
pocket money and to be left on his own. It is
unsurprising that those should be his wishes and many
of his age would share them. It also appears from the
council's documentation that he does not want to be in
care. No doubt that is a misunderstanding by him, to the
extent that it is recorded, of the section 20 provision. The
fact of his application to this court, and what is said by
the solicitor, indicates that his considered view, to the
extent it is relevant, is that he wants section 20
assistance, not that he wants section 17.”
R(W) v North Lincolnshire Council, per HH Judge Mackie QC
The need must be actual and current
“… in my judgment, no duty under section 20(1)
arises where the most that can be said is that
without assistance, even assistance by way of
temporary accommodation, a parent may (or
possibly, even, will) be prevented from providing
the child with suitable accommodation or care.”
R(JL & LL) v Islington LBC [2009] EWHC 458
(Admin), para 96, per Black LJ
The range of services provided under
section 20
“… the children’s authority … can ask another authority to use
its powers to help them discharge theirs. They can ask a
housing authority, for example, to make a certain amount of
suitable accommodation available for them to use in
discharging their responsibility to accommodate children under
section 20. Section 23(2) gives them great flexibility in the ways
in which they can provide accommodation for the children they
are looking after, ranging from placing them with families,
relatives or other suitable people, placing them in an
appropriate children’s home, or “making such other
arrangements as . . . seem appropriate to them". The very
flexibility of what the children’s authority can provide supports
the construction which we have placed upon section 20(1).”
G v Southwark, para 33 per Baroness Hale
16/17 year olds
G v Southwark
M v London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
The Homelessness (Priority Need for
Accommodation)(England) Order 2002 SI/2051
Protocol
Housing Services
Seized of a Part 7 application?
Reason to believe applicant may be homeless /
threatened?
Reason to believe application may be in priority
need?
Protocol (cont.)
Social services
Is s/he a child?
Is s/he “in need”?
Is s/he in area?
Does s/he require s.20 accommodation?
Protocol (cont.)
Housing Services’ functions
largely limited to the “quick fix” of temporary accommodation
Dealing with young applicants with other priority need
Exceptional case remaining with housing
Signing off the homelessness application
Care leavers
Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000
R(M) v Hammersmith & Fulham LBC
R(C) v Lambeth LBC
Provision of education and training
Under section 23C(4), the local authority has a duty to give a former relevant child—
“(a) assistance of the kind referred to in section 24B(1), to the extent that his welfare requires it;
(b) assistance of the kind referred to in section 24B(2), to the extent that his welfare and his
educational or training needs require it;
(c) other assistance, to the extent that his welfare requires it.”
Section 23C(7) and (8) provide that:
(7) If the former relevant child's pathway plan sets out a programme of education or training which
extends beyond his twenty-first birthday—
(a) the duty set out in subsection (4)(b) continues to subsist for so long as the former relevant child
continues to pursue that programme; and
(b) the duties set out in subsections (2) and (3) continue to subsist concurrently with that duty.
(8) For the purposes of subsection (7)(a) there shall be disregarded any interruption in a former
relevant child's pursuance of a programme of education or training if the local authority are
satisfied that he will resume it as soon as is reasonably practicable”.
Section 24B:
“(1) The relevant local authority may give assistance to any person who qualifies for
advice and assistance by virtue of [section 24(1A) or] section 24(2)(a) by contributing
to expenses incurred by him in living near the place where he is, or will be, employed
or seeking employment.
(2) The relevant local authority may give assistance to a person to whom subsection
(3) applies by—
(a) contributing to expenses incurred by the person in question in living near the
place where he is, or will be, receiving education or training; or
(b) making a grant to enable him to meet expenses connected with his education or
training.
(3) This subsection applies to any person who—
(a) is under twenty-four; and
(b) qualifies for advice and assistance by virtue of [section 24(1A) or] section 24(2)(a),
or would have done so if he were under twenty-one”.
The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 Regulations
and Guidance 2001
where the pathway plan sets out a programme of
education, the duty of the local authority continues until
the educational programme is complete;
the pathway plan requires review every six months, and
this can address educational achievement (as well as any
change in immigration status)
local authorities should not fund items which would
ordinarily be paid by a student loan.