Assessing and supporting children and families who have no recourse to public funds

1.  Introduction

This guidance is intended to be used by social workers and other local authority staff who are responsible for assessing need and providing support to families with no recourse to public funds who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or have insufficient funds to meet their child’s basic needs.

There is no statutory guidance relating to the delivery of support to families with no recourse to public funds and statutory guidance for social workers does not specifically mention children in no recourse to public funds households.

This practice guidance therefore can provide local authorities with:

• Comprehensive information about the statutory framework and how the courts have directed this should be applied to families with no recourse to public funds
• Information to inform best practice when meeting a child’s needs through the provision of accommodation and financial support
• Information to inform best practice when assisting families to achieve a long-term solution to their situation of destitution and pathway off support

This chapter sets out the policy and practice context, how the legislation applies to supporting families with no recourse to public funds, how to use this guidance and notes on terminology.

1.1 Legislative, policy and practice context

Families with no recourse to public funds can experience significant hardship as a result of being excluded from accessing benefits and local authority housing – services that are usually available to alleviate destitution and homelessness or to top-up a low income.

However, local authorities can play a key role in reducing child poverty, alleviating homelessness, and promoting integration by providing accommodation and financial support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (‘section 17 support’) to families with no recourse to public funds in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child in need. Equivalent duties enable local authorities in Wales and Scotland, and health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland, to deliver similar support to families with no recourse to public funds are set out in later chapters.

Section 17 support has been recognised by the UK government and courts as being an essential safety-net to protect children from destitution and its existence has enabled the government to exclude specific migrant groups from accessing mainstream welfare support. For example, see the case R (HC) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2017] UKSC 73. For more information about section 17 duties, see section 1.2.

The Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance (Home Office, April 2023), also directs local authorities in England to use their power under section 17 to support victims of domestic abuse with no recourse to public funds who have children:

207. ..If a victim of domestic abuse has children, local authorities have a duty to provide financial support and/or accommodation under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 to safeguard the welfare of those in need, regardless of their immigration status or that of their parents.

In 2022, the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, in its Final Report (pdf) acknowledged that restricting access to benefits and housing assistance was a contextual factor driving families towards social care and has ‘a significant impact on the effort and resources needed to uphold children’s rights and keep children within a loving, safe and stable family network’.

At the end of March 2024, 78 councils in England and Scotland using NRPF Connect were providing 1563 families with accommodation and financial support at a collective annual spend of £34 million. Single mothers caring for their children made up almost three-quarters of these families. In 118 families, at least one dependent child was recorded as having British citizenship. Local authorities often work with parents and children who have been living in precarious situations for many years before presenting to their local authority and who may have experienced exploitation or forced dependency.

The local authority’s intervention is often a family’s first step towards stability and the majority of families that are provided with accommodation and financial support will have a long-term future in the UK. In 2023-24, 70% of families transitioned off local authority support following a grant of leave to remain by the Home Office. Access to immigration advice is therefore key for families to be able to assert their right to remain or make an informed decision regarding return.

Although understanding this area of social work practice can seem daunting as immigration laws are complex and the policy environment can rapidly change, in all cases, the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child in need remains central to the local authority’s response. Empowering social workers and their managers to confidently apply the relevant legislation will ensure that this vital safety-net is provided to families in need who have no other support available to them.

By adopting a child-centred approach and providing effective support to meet a child’s needs, local authorities can reduce child poverty and inequalities within communities arising from the impact of the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition. However, with families receiving accommodation and financial support for an average period of 1.5 years, the financial risk of ongoing high-cost expenditure must be managed strategically and operationally within the local authority.

Sharing best practice learned from local authorities and other stakeholders across the UK with regards to the provision of support will lead to better outcomes for children and assist service delivery at a local level. By sharing data and practice experiences, local authorities also enable the NRPF Network and local government stakeholders to make funding and policy recommendations that are necessary to address the wider economic and societal impacts arising from UK government immigration policy.

This guidance is supported by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) and by the Local Government Association (LGA).

1.2 How section 17 applies to families with NRPF

This section summarises the legislation that applies in England. The legislation that enables local authorities in Wales and Scotland, and health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland, to deliver similar support to families with no recourse to public funds is set out at chapter 11 (Wales), chapter 12 (Scotland), and chapter 13 (Northern Ireland).

Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (‘section 17’) provides the local authority with a broad power to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child in need by providing a range of services, including accommodation and financial support to a child and their family.

A child will be a ‘child in need’ if they are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or the cost of their basic needs cannot be met by their parents due to immigration restrictions that prevent the family from accessing benefits or local authority homelessness assistance. In such cases, under section 17, children’s social care can provide the family with accommodation and financial support (subsistence), in addition to any other services that are necessary to meet the child’s needs.

Section 17(1) of the Children Act sets out the general duty of local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children:

(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.

Section 17(3) states:

Any service provided by an authority in the exercise of functions conferred on them by this section may be provided for the family of a particular child in need or for any member of his family, if it is provided with a view to safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare.

Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 requires a local authority to make arrangements to ensure that their functions are discharged having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This duty applies to social care and other local authority services, including housing and public health.

The statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children (Department for Education, February 2024) defines ‘safeguard and promote the welfare of children’ as:

• providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge
• protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online
• preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
• ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
• promoting the upbringing of children with their birth parents, or otherwise their family network through a kinship care arrangement, whenever possible and where this is in the best interests of the children
• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes in line with the outcomes set out in the Children’s Social Care National Framework

The statutory guidance goes onto state, at paragraph 12:

A child-centred approach is fundamental to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child. All practitioners should follow the principles of the Children Acts 1989 and 2004. These Acts make clear that the welfare of children is paramount and that they are best looked after within their families, with their parents playing a full part in their lives, unless compulsory intervention in family life is necessary.

The courts have often described section 17 as a ‘target duty’, as the local authority can safeguard and promote the welfare of an individual child by using its discretion to provide a broad range of services to the child and/or their family members. However, where a child and their parent would otherwise be homeless or destitute, the power under section 17 to provide a wide range of services in order to meet a child’s assessed welfare needs can amount to a duty on the local authority to act as a provider of last resort. (O v LB Lambeth London Borough of Lambeth [2016] EWHC 937, paragraph 13.)

Although the courts have been clear that section 17 will be engaged to alleviate destitution where a family has no other support available due to the parent’s inability to access benefits and local authority housing assistance, the local authority may take into account its resources when deciding how any formally assessed needs are met. (R (AC & SH) v London Borough of Lambeth Council [2017] EWHC 1796, R (C, T, M and U) v London Borough of Southwark [2016] EWCA Civ 707 and R (G) v Barnet LBC [2003] UKHL 57.)

Any decision regarding meeting needs must be reached lawfully and rationally, and the local authority must act reasonably when determining how to most effectively allocate its resources. Meeting a child’s identified needs must remain at the forefront of any decision regarding the support provided to a family with no recourse to public funds under section 17.

A decision to meet a child’s needs under section 17 must also be compatible with the family’s human rights. A human rights breach is likely to arise when the failure to provide support would leave a family homeless or unable to meet their essential living needs (Article 3), or results in family members being separated (Article 8). Therefore, it will be unlawful to refuse to provide accommodation and financial support where a family would otherwise be homeless, or to offer to support a child on their own, rather than with their parent or care giver, in the absence of any additional safeguarding concerns relating to the parent or care giver.

Section 17 is an ongoing duty, so the local authority will need to be responsive to any changing needs that a child has and be prepared to re-assess need as the family’s circumstances change.

1.3 How to use this guidance

This guidance is intended to be used by social workers and other local authority staff who are responsible for assessing need and providing support to families with no recourse to public funds who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or have insufficient funds to meet their child’s basic needs.

Practitioners in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will need to read the initial chapters of the guidance, which refer to the legislation, statutory guidance and case law that applies in England, in conjunction with later chapters that set out the equivalent legislation and any additional guidance that they will need to apply and follow: chapter 11 (Wales), chapter 12 (Scotland) and chapter 13 (Northern Ireland).

Chapter 2 provides an overview of the key practice points, which can be referred to for a ‘quick read’ or to help navigate the full guidance.

This guidance is published online and can be viewed by chapter or as a full document. Readers can search for terms within an individual chapter or the full document and print an individual chapter or the full document.

We provide separate practice guidance for practitioners who are supporting adults with no recourse to public funds. Local authorities can read more about service delivery in our new guidance: Supporting Households with No Recourse to Public Funds: Key Elements and Service Models.

1.4 Terminology

‘No recourse to public funds’ refers to being:

• Subject to immigration control under section 115 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Ineligible for benefits when a person has pre-settled status or a pending EU Settlement Scheme application, or is a joining family member

‘Local authority housing assistance’ refers to a housing allocation and homelessness assistance under parts VI and VII of the Housing Act 1996, respectively, or the equivalent legislation in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which is set out at chapters 11 to 13.

‘Parent’ is used in the singular because single parent households make up a disproportionate number of families supported under section 17. At the end of March 2024, 80% of families receiving support were single parent households.

‘Section 17 support’ refers to accommodation and financial support provided under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

Unless specified otherwise, all data that is referenced in the guidance is taken from the NRPF Connect 2023-24 data report (pdf). This comprises of information about the families with no recourse to public funds who requested or were provided with accommodation and financial support by 78 local authorities in England and Scotland.

 

2.  Key practice points

This chapter is intended to act as a ‘quick read’ covering all the essential points that social workers, managers, and senior leaders need to be aware of when delivering support to families with no recourse to public funds. Practitioners who are responsible for assessing need and providing support to families will also need to refer to more detailed sections of the guidance.

What can a family access when they have no recourse to public funds?

• People with no recourse to public funds cannot claim ‘public funds’, which are defined as most benefits and local authority housing assistance.
• Other services, such as social care, childcare and free school meals, are not ‘public funds’ and therefore can be provided to families with no recourse to public funds.
• However, some services, such as childcare for working parents in England and free NHS hospital treatment have immigration-related eligibility criteria.

For more information about how immigration status affects entitlements, see chapter 3. Full information about migrants’ rights and entitlements to different services can be found on the NRPF Network website.

What can a local authority do to avert homelessness amongst families with no recourse to public funds before section 17 support is required?

• Providing effective signposting to families when they access local authority services can empower them to seek appropriate advice and access relevant information about their entitlements, which in some cases, may prevent homelessness or severe financial hardship.

For more information about early intervention and preventing homelessness, see section 4.1.

How does section 17 apply to a family with no recourse to public funds?

• Social care is not a ‘public fund’ for immigration purposes, therefore support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (‘section 17’) can be provided to families with no recourse to public funds.
• Section 17 enables a local authority to alleviate destitution and prevent homelessness by providing accommodation and financial support to a family when the parent cannot access benefits or local authority housing assistance due to their immigration status.
• Section 17 requires the local authority to promote the upbringing of a child within their family – accommodating a child alone is not an appropriate response when a family can be accommodated together.

For more information about how section 17 applies to families with no recourse to public funds, see section 1.2.

When will the local authority have a duty to undertake a child in need assessment?

• The local authority must undertake an assessment under section 17 when it appears that a child in need is present in its area.
• The threshold for undertaking a child in need assessment is low and will usually be met when, as a result of the parent’s inability to access benefits or employment, a family does not appear to have adequate accommodation or sufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs.

For more information about the duty to assess need, see chapter 5.

How is a family’s eligibility for section 17 support established?

• A child in need assessment must be undertaken in line with the statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.
• The assessment must be child-centred and will need to consider how the parent’s inability to obtain adequate housing or meet the costs of their child’s basic needs impacts upon the child’s personal development and well-being, alongside any other factors affecting the child.
• The assessment will need to establish what resources are available to the parent to access suitable accommodation and/or to meet the costs of their child’s basic needs, taking into account any immigration restrictions that apply to the parent.

For more information about assessing need, see chapter 6.

What can the local authority do if the family need support immediately?

• Accommodation and financial support can be provided on an interim basis under section 17 whilst a child in need assessment is being undertaken or before the parent’s immigration status has been established.

For more information about interim support, see section 4.2.

When is a human rights assessment required?

• A human rights assessment, which considers the parent’s ability to return to their country of origin, must be undertaken when a family qualifies for section 17 support and the parent is without lawful status in the UK (and is not seeking asylum).
• A human rights assessment should not be completed when a parent has leave to remain, including pre-settled status, or is seeking asylum.
• When a parent has no lawful status, the local authority can still provide interim support and undertake a child in need assessment.
• A parent without lawful status will need to be signposted to immigration advice in the first instance – it will not be possible to consider the family’s ability to return until there are no outstanding immigration claims or the parent has been advised that they have no grounds to apply for leave to remain.

For more information about human rights assessments, see section 4.3.

What support can be provided to a family in order to meet a child’s needs under section 17?

• Section 17 provides the local authority with a broad power to meet a child’s needs by providing services, financial support (subsistence), and accommodation.
• Meeting a child’s identified needs and adopting a child-centred approach must remain at the forefront of any decisions regarding the support provided to a family with no recourse to public funds.
• As a family will require support for an average period of 1.5 years, the type of accommodation and level of financial support that is provided will need to sufficiently raise the family out of destitution and mitigate any ongoing safeguarding risks to the child.
• The absolute minimum level of financial support that can be provided to a family under section 17 is equivalent to asylum support rates set by the Home Office, plus utilities and council tax. However, many families will need to be paid a higher rate of support.
• When families are placed in accommodation out-of-area, particularly where this is in a different region, it will be necessary to implement appropriate safeguards to manage any arising risks and practical challenges.

For more information about meeting a child’s needs see chapter 7 (accommodation) and chapter 8 (subsistence).

What can the local authority do to help a family establish a long-term solution to their destitution?

• In order to establish a long-term solution to a family’s destitution, it will be necessary to identify an appropriate pathway off section 17 support and help the family to achieve this, which will usually involve assisting the family to access immigration advice.
• In some cases, immigration advice may need to be funded by the local authority.

For more information about pathways off support, see chapter 9.

When can the local authority end section 17 support?

• Section 17 support can only be withdrawn when a child is no longer a ‘child in need’ or when the local authority has established, through a human rights assessment, that there are no legal or practical obstacles preventing a family from being able to return to their country of origin when the parent has no lawful status in the UK.
• For the majority of families, section 17 support will end following a grant of leave to remain that confers access to benefits and local authority housing assistance.
• When families obtain leave to remain, they will need to be proactively assisted to obtain benefits and access homelessness assistance from a housing authority.

For more information about withdrawing support, see chapter 10.

Who is responsible for supporting asylum-seeking families?

• Asylum-seeking families are entitled to support from the Home Office and will have their accommodation and essential living needs met through the asylum support system.
• In some instances, the local authority may need to provide asylum seeking families with accommodation and financial support under section 17.

For more information about supporting asylum-seeking families, see section 4.4.

How can a pregnant woman be supported?

• A pregnant woman with no recourse to public funds can be provided with accommodation and financial support under section 19(1) of the Care Act 2014 – such support may be delivered by adult social care or children’s social care.

For more information about supporting pregnant women, see section 4.5.

3.  Immigration status and entitlements

This chapter sets out who has no recourse to public funds, the definition of ‘public funds’ for immigration purposes, when a parent with pre-settled status can access benefits, access to benefits, homelessness assistance and other services, and how immigration status can be confirmed.

3.1 Who has no recourse to public funds?

The immigration status of a person who is not a British or Irish citizen will determine whether they are able to work or access public funds.

Section 115 of the Immigration Act 1999 specifies that a person who is ‘subject to immigration control’ will have no recourse to public funds.

A person will be ‘subject to immigration control’ when they have:

• Leave to enter or remain with a ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition
• Adult dependent relative leave (for the first five years in UK)
• No lawful status in the UK
• A pending asylum application
• Leave to enter or remain as a result of a pending immigration appeal

Some further information about people who have leave to remain that is subject to a NRPF condition and people who have no lawful status in the UK is provided in this section. For more information about other groups that have no recourse to public funds, see the NRPF Network website.

3.1.1 Leave to enter or remain with NRPF

Most types of limited leave to enter or remain will have a NRPF condition imposed.

However, the NRPF condition will not be imposed when a person applies for leave to remain, or can be lifted after a person obtains leave to remain, if the Home Office accepts that the person is destitute or at risk of destitution and they are on one of the following immigration routes:

• Partner or parent on the family life route
• Private life route
• Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route

A person would need to make a change of conditions application to the Home Office to request that their NRPF condition is lifted.

In exceptional cases, the Home Office can lift the NRPF condition for a person who is on a different immigration route, such as a student or worker. For more information about when and how a person can request that their NRPF condition is lifted, see the NRPF Network website.

3.1.2 No lawful status

A person may be referred to as having ‘no lawful status’ or ‘irregular status’ if they:

• Overstay their visa
• Enter the UK illegally and do not obtain leave to remain
• Are ‘appeal rights exhausted’ after making an unsuccessful immigration or asylum application with no further right to appeal

For information about the restrictions that a person with no lawful status will be subject to, see section 6.5.3.

3.2 What are ‘public funds’?

The term ‘public funds’ when used in an immigration context is very specific and does not apply to all publicly funded services.

The Immigration Act 1999 and part 6 of the Immigration Rules specify that, for immigration purposes, ‘public funds’ are:

• Most benefits – as listed on the NRPF Network website
• Homelessness assistance under part VII of the Housing Act 1996
• A local authority allocation of social housing made under part VI of the Housing Act 1996

For details of the local authority housing assistance in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland that is also a ‘public fund’, please refer to section 11.1 (Wales), section 12.1 (Scotland) and section 13.1 (Northern Ireland).

3.3 Pre-settled status and benefit entitlement

There will be some instances where families with pre-settled status granted under the EU Settlement Scheme are found to be ineligible for means-tested benefits, such as universal credit.

Although a person with pre-settled status is not subject to a NRPF condition, they must meet a right to reside test in order to qualify for means-tested benefits.

A person with pre-settled status will only qualify for universal credit if they:

• Meet a right to reside test, or
• Following a court decision, can show that they are unable to live in dignified conditions without access to universal credit because no alternative support is available to them

For more information about benefit entitlement for people with pre-settled status, see the NRPF Network website.

Often parents with pre-settled status who have young children will be unable to work and, therefore, may not meet the right to reside test in order to qualify for universal credit. It can be particularly complex for a parent who has pre-settled status on the basis of being a family member of a European Economic Area national to establish their entitlement to benefits. When a parent does not have a qualifying right to reside, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should consider their individual circumstances before refusing universal credit. However, whilst there is no universal entitlement for pre-settled status holders, some parents may remain unable to access benefits until they obtain settled status, which they can apply for after five years’ residence in the UK. A parent will need to be signposted to an immigration adviser for advice and assistance about applying for settled status.

A person who has a pending EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) application or who has entered the UK as a joining family member of a person with pre-settled status will also be subject to similar restrictions when establishing their entitlement to universal credit or other means-tested benefits, and may only be able to access these if they can demonstrate a qualifying right to reside. For more information, see the NRPF Network website.

A similar right to reside test will be applied when a parent applies for local authority homelessness assistance, so families will generally be unable to access homelessness assistance if they are ineligible for universal credit. However, a separate eligibility decision should be made by the housing authority and, in some cases, interim accommodation may need to be provided whilst the parent’s eligibility is being investigated, as outlined in section 3.5.

3.4 Accessing benefits

In most cases, a parent’s immigration status determines whether they can claim benefits for their family. For example, a parent who has no recourse to public funds cannot usually claim child benefit for their child, and this restriction will apply regardless of the child’s nationality or immigration status.

Benefit entitlement can be complex for a ‘mixed household’, where one parent has access to public funds and the other parent or their children do not.

There are some exceptions which allow nationals of certain countries who have leave to remain with NRPF to claim specific benefits, such as child benefit.

A person who has leave to remain with NRPF can claim employment-related contributory-based benefits, such as contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance, statutory sick pay, maternity allowance and statutory maternity pay. For more information about accessing benefits, see the NRPF Network website.

Families that are unclear about their benefit entitlement will need to be signposted to a welfare rights adviser for specialist advice. For help finding a local adviser, see the NRPF Network website.

3.5 Accessing homelessness assistance

A person who is subject to a NRPF condition or who has no lawful status will not be eligible for homelessness assistance under part VII of the Housing Act 1996. When a person is found to be ineligible for homelessness assistance, they should be issued with a section 184 notice, explaining the local authority’s decision. The applicant can request a review of this if they believe it is incorrect. A request for a review will need to be submitted to the housing authority within 21 days of receiving the section 184 notice.

Housing officers will need to refer to the Homelessness Code of Guidance (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, June 2024) for full information about homelessness eligibility requirements and will need to be aware of the different ways that a person may be able to evidence their immigration status.

Under section 188 of the Housing Act 1996, the local authority is required to provide interim accommodation if it believes that an applicant may be eligible, homeless, and in priority need.

When a person is subject to a NRPF condition they will be ineligible for local authority homelessness assistance so the housing authority may reach a conclusion about the limit of its statutory duties under the Housing Act fairly quickly. However, the eligibility of a person who has pre-settled status or a pending EUSS application may take some time for the housing authority to establish, as the applicant can access public funds, but will need to demonstrate that they have a qualifying right to reside. In such cases, the housing authority may need to provide interim accommodation under section 188 of the Housing Act whilst it investigates the parent’s eligibility and other aspects of the homelessness application.

The rules regarding homeless duties for ‘mixed’ households are complex. Where a parent is eligible for homelessness assistance, but their family members have a different nationality or immigration status, the housing authority may not have a duty to accommodate the whole family.

Where a family’s entitlement to homelessness assistance is unclear or they wish to review a decision made by the housing authority, they can be signposted to a housing adviser. For help finding a local housing adviser, see the NRPF Network website.

3.6 Accessing other services

Only certain benefits and local authority housing assistance are classed as ‘public funds’ for immigration purposes.

When a parent or child has no recourse to public funds, this does not prevent a family from accessing other publicly funded services, such as social care, free school meals, some childcare schemes, or NHS treatment. A family should never be refused assistance for these services solely due to having no recourse to public funds.

However, some publicly funded services do have immigration-related requirements. For example, a parent or child may be required to pay for hospital treatment if they do not have lawful status in the UK.

For more information about a family’s entitlement to other services, see the NRPF Network website.

3.7 Confirming immigration status

The Home Office is currently in the process of ending the use of physical status documents and intends for most people who have leave to enter or remain to transition to digital status by the end of December 2024. After this date, no one will be issued with a biometric residence permit or card or be given an endorsement (ink stamp) in their passport. Vignettes in passports will be phased out in 2025.

A person who has a digital status (or eVisa) can access this via the view and prove service on gov.uk. They can obtain a code to enable services to access this directly.

For more information about the roll-out of digital status, see the NRPF Network website.

The guidance Using your UK Visas and Immigration account (Home Office, September 2024) specifies that some organisations, including local authorities, can automatically access information about a person’s immigration status.

When a family requests accommodation and financial support from children’s social care, the local authority can obtain information about the parent’s immigration status and any pending immigration applications directly from the Home Office in one of the following ways:

• Enter the parent’s details on NRPF Connect to view their digital status on the Recourse to Public Funds checker or to request an immigration status check
• Contact the Home Office Status, Verification, Enquires and Checking email service at: ICESSVECWorkflow@homeoffice.gov.uk

When a family would otherwise be homeless or living in unsuitable accommodation, or the parent has insufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs, interim support can be provided under section 188 of the Housing Act 1996 or section 17 of the Children Act 1989, as appropriate, whilst the parent’s immigration status is being established. For more information about accessing homelessness assistance, see section 3.5. For more information about providing interim section 17 support, see section 4.2.

4.  Initial considerations

This chapter sets out the benefits of undertaking early intervention, how urgent needs can be met, when a human rights assessment is required, what support is available for asylum seeking families, and how pregnant women can be supported.

4.1 Early intervention and homelessness prevention

Families with no recourse to public funds often approach their local authority when they are already in need of accommodation and financial support because they are homeless, at risk of homelessness, are living in unsuitable accommodation, or have insufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs. In such cases, the local authority will have a duty to undertake a child in need assessment and may need to provide interim support.

However, children’s services and other local authority departments may encounter families with no recourse to public funds who are struggling financially but do not yet require a statutory social work intervention. In some cases, homelessness or more serious financial hardship may be prevented if families are empowered through effective signposting to seek appropriate advice and access relevant information about their entitlements.

Early help services may be assisting families with no recourse to public funds and housing authorities are required to provide advice and information to residents who are at risk of homelessness, including those who are ineligible for homelessness assistance. Even when there is no formal requirement to assist a family, it is good practice for other local authority services to provide families with no recourse to public funds with relevant signposting information.

4.1.1 Early help

In some cases, children’s services may conduct an early help assessment for a family with no recourse to public funds. The statutory guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ states, at paragraph 131:

Where a child and family would benefit from co-ordinated support from more than one organisation or agency (for example, education, health, housing) there should be a multi-agency assessment.

However, if the family’s circumstances develop and they have been unable to resolve their financial or housing situation whilst multi-agency assistance is being provided, then a statutory child in need assessment will be required. The statutory guidance goes onto state, at paragraph 133:

If at any time it is considered that the child may be a child in need, as defined in the Children Act 1989, a referral should be made to children’s social care.

Some local authorities in England will be piloting the Families First for Children (FFC) pathfinder programme in which early help and child in need provision is brought together in local multi-disciplinary family help services.

4.1.2 Housing duties

Housing authorities in England must provide free advice and information about the help that is available for people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, which everyone in the area can access, including people who are ineligible for homelessness assistance under part VII of the Housing Act 1996. Additionally, when a person is found to be ineligible for homelessness assistance, the Homelessness Code of Guidance’ (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, June 2024) states that:

3.2 Housing authorities may wish to consider providing information for those who are ineligible for further homelessness services on how to access any other assistance available in the area, for example through charitable or faith groups.

7.2 Housing authorities have a duty to provide or secure the provision of advice and information about homelessness and the prevention of homelessness, free of charge which must be available to any person in their district. All applicants, including those who are ineligible as a result of their immigration status, will be able to access this form of assistance from the housing authority. Housing authorities should refer applicants to appropriate support which they may be entitled to where relevant.

4.1.3 Signposting information

Signposting information for families could be made available on the local authority website and be provided by services that are likely to be accessed by families with no recourse to public funds, such as housing, early help, early years education, and free school meals teams.

Identifying prevention options will depend on the individual circumstances of the family and the options available will vary depending on the parent’s short and long-term needs, immigration status and entitlements.

Although it might initially appear that a family only requires one-off support to address a temporary crisis, signposting to appropriate advice and legal services may mean they can take steps to reduce a future risk of homelessness or financial instability.

Signposting information can include:

• Local immigration advice providers
• Local housing and welfare rights advice providers
• Employment support services
• Voluntary and community sector services that provide advocacy and other support to migrants, families, women or children
• Domestic abuse support services
• How to access Home Office asylum support
• Local baby banks
• One-off support provided by local food banks and food charities
• Information about rights and entitlements on gov.uk and the NRPF Network website
• Information about how to apply for local services, such as free school meals, childcare, and school uniform grants etc.
• Support for migrant families webtool

The NRPF Network website provides some useful links to help local authorities find voluntary and community sector services that assist migrants in their area.

For more information about accessing Home Office asylum support, see section 4.4.1. For more information about accessing immigration advice and the options that are available to some families with no recourse to public funds, see chapter 9.

For families that are making immigration claims, it can take several months for the Home Office to make a decision, so alternatives to a formal support intervention may not be sustainable for such a lengthy period. If there are urgent child welfare concerns that are not getting addressed, it will be necessary to proceed with a statutory assessment and, if required, provide interim support.

4.2 Interim support: meeting urgent need

There will often be situations where it is necessary to provide interim support under section 17 of the Children Act whilst initial inquiries or a statutory assessment of need is being undertaken. Interim support will usually need to be provided when a family present as homeless or is clearly living in unsuitable accommodation. It can also be provided if the family are not homeless, but the parent is accruing rent arrears or cannot afford to meet their child’s basic needs.

Interim support under section 17 can be provided before a child in need assessment has been concluded and before the local authority has confirmed the parent’s immigration status.

For families with no recourse to public funds, interim support could include (but is not limited to):

• Financial support to address housing matters, such as rent arrears, by topping up rent on an existing tenancy or providing subsistence payments
• Emergency short-term accommodation, such as a B&B placement or funding a refuge space
• Private rented sector accommodation procured through an approved provider (on a short-term basis)

The statutory guidance, ‘Working together to safeguard children’, states:

155. …In all cases, as practitioners identify needs during the assessment, they do not need to wait until the assessment concludes before providing support or commissioning services to support the child and their family.

The failure of a local authority to use its power under section 17 to provide accommodation and financial support could result in a breach of human rights in the following circumstances:

• A decision that compels a family to be without shelter and funds could amount to a breach of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR): the right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment. (See: R (Limbuela) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2005] UKHL 66.).
• A decision that leaves a family in manifestly unsuitable accommodation that has a significant impact on a child’s health and well-being could amount to a breach of article 3 of the ECHR (See: R (TMX) v London Borough of Croydon & Anor [2024] EWHC 129.)
• A decision that results in the separation of the family could amount to a breach of article 8 of the ECHR: the right to respect for their family and private life.

4.3 Human rights assessments

When a parent is without lawful status in the UK, the local authority will need to undertake a human right assessment to determine whether it can provide accommodation and financial support to the family under section 17 of the Children Act.

Section 54 and schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (‘schedule 3’) place a bar on the provision of accommodation and financial support to a family under section 17 when the parent is ‘in breach of immigration laws’ and the family can avoid destitution in the UK by returning to their country of origin.

When a parent is ‘in breach of immigration laws’, schedule 3 does not prevent the local authority from:

• Undertaking a child in need assessment
• Providing emergency support under section 17 whilst a needs assessment or human rights assessment is pending
• Signposting the family to immigration advice
• Providing other types of assistance direction to a child, such as services to meet needs arising from a disability

When schedule 3 applies, the local authority will need to undertake a human rights assessment in order to determine whether it can provide ongoing accommodation and financial support to a family under section 17 of the Children Act.

The human rights assessment must identify whether there are any legal barriers or practical obstacles preventing the family from returning to their country of origin. The human rights assessment would usually be undertaken after the child in need assessment has been completed, as the child in need assessment must address how the child’s needs can be met on return. For more information about needs assessments, see chapter 6.

When a legal barrier or practical obstacle to return is identified and the family qualifies for section 17 support, the bar on providing support will be lifted and accommodation and financial support can be provided whilst the barrier is in place. For example, a pending immigration application must be treated as a barrier to return, so the family would need to be provided with support under section 17 until the Home Office (or appeal courts) make a final decision on the claim.

The local authority can only conclude that a family can freely return to their country of origin to avoid destitution in the UK when there are no legal barriers or practical obstacles to return, and an assessment of the child’s best interests has been made. Usually, the parent will need to be provided with an opportunity to get legal advice about their immigration options before return can be fully considered. When the local authority concludes that the family can return, it will have no duty to provide accommodation and financial support under section 17. However, assistance with return and ongoing support can be provided to the family whilst travel arrangements are made. For more information about supporting a family to return, see section 10.7.

When the local authority has lawfully determined that the family are free to return to the parent’s country of origin, but the family refuses to do so, the courts have found that any hardship or degradation suffered will be a result of their decision to stay in the country and not as a result of any breach of human rights by the local authority. (See: R (AW) v London Borough of Croydon [2005] EWHC 2950 (Admin), paragraph 35.)

A human rights assessment is only required when a parent is ‘in breach of immigration laws’ and is not seeking asylum. Schedule 3 also applies to other groups including asylum seekers who have failed to comply with removal directions and people awarded refugee status in a European Economic Area state. However, families in these positions are rarely encountered by local authorities, if at all. For the full list of groups excluded by Schedule 3, please see section 3.3 of the NRPF Network practice guidance, ‘When and how to undertake a human rights assessment’.

Schedule 3 does not apply to parents with leave to remain or who are seeking asylum. Therefore, when a parent has leave to remain with NRPF, has pre-settled status, or is seeking asylum (with a pending application or appeal), the family’s eligibility for section 17 support will be determined by the outcome of a child in need assessment. In such cases, a human rights assessment should not be completed.

There is no requirement to carry out a human rights assessment when a local authority concludes that a child is not a ‘child in need’, as in such cases it will not be required to exercise its power under section 17 to provide accommodation and financial support to the family.

For more information about conducting a human rights assessment see the NRPF Network practice guidance and assessment template.

4.4 Asylum-seeking families

Asylum-seeking families are entitled to support from the Home Office and will have their accommodation and essential living needs met through the asylum support system. However, there are some instances where the local authority may need to provide accommodation and financial support, or other services, to asylum seeking families. It is therefore necessary to understand what type of Home Office support is available and when the local authority may be required to provide support.

4.4.1 Home Office asylum support

Accommodation and financial support under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 is provided by the Home Office to families who are destitute and are:

• Seeking asylum (have a pending claim or are appealing a refusal of their asylum claim) or
• Appeal rights exhausted (ARE) following an unsuccessful asylum claim and had a child under 18 in their household at the date that they became ARE

Section 95 asylum support is also available where a parent has made an article 3 human rights claim.

Emergency support can be provided under section 98 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 whilst the Home Office is considering an application for section 95 support.

Accommodation and financial support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 is provided by the Home Office to families who are destitute when they meet further conditions, such as having pending further submissions or are taking steps to leave the UK.

For more information about asylum support and how to apply for this, see the NRPF Network website.

4.4.2 Families eligible for section 95 support

Local authorities are prohibited from providing accommodation and financial support under section 17 of the Children Act to asylum-seeking families who are eligible for section 95 Home Office support. However, in emergency situations the local authority may need to provide section 17 support on a short-term basis in order to safeguard a child’s welfare.

Section 122 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 prevents a local authority from providing accommodation and financial support to a child under section 17 Children Act 1989 when:

• The Home Office is providing section 95 asylum support (accommodation and/or financial support to meet the child’s essential living needs), or
• There are reasonable grounds for believing that the Home Office would be required to provide such support if the parent were to make an application for section 95 support

Section 122 states:

(1) In this section “eligible person” means a person who appears to the Secretary of State to be a person for whom support may be provided under section 95.

(2) Subsections (3) and (4) apply if an application for support under section 95 has been made by an eligible person whose household includes a dependant under the age of 18 (“the child”).

(3) If it appears to the Secretary of State that adequate accommodation is not being provided for the child, he must exercise his powers under section 95 by offering, and if his offer is accepted by providing or arranging for the provision of, adequate accommodation for the child as part of the eligible person’s household.

(4) If it appears to the Secretary of State that essential living needs of the child are not being met, he must exercise his powers under section 95 by offering, and if his offer is accepted by providing or arranging for the provision of, essential living needs for the child as part of the eligible person’s household.

(5) No local authority may provide assistance under any of the child welfare provisions in respect of a dependant under the age of 18, or any member of his family, at any time when—
(a) the Secretary of State is complying with this section in relation to him; or
(b) there are reasonable grounds for believing that—
(i) the person concerned is a person for whom support may be provided under section 95; and
(ii) the Secretary of State would be required to comply with this section if that person had made an application under section 95.

The ‘child welfare provisions’ are:

• Section 17 of the Children Act 1989
• Section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
• Article 18 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995

In practice, asylum-seeking families often experience difficulties and delays in accessing asylum support. Accommodation and financial support may need to be provided by a local authority to an asylum-seeking family when it appears to the local authority, or it has been assessed, that a child is in need due to the family’s lack of access to housing and funds and one of the following applies:

• The family are seeking legal advice or are intending to claim asylum but have not yet made an asylum claim to the Home Office
• The family have claimed asylum but the Home Office has not provided emergency support or has not yet decided the section 95 asylum support application
• The Home Office has withdrawn the family’s asylum support
• The Home Office has declined to provide the family with section 95 support

For more information about helping families to transfer to Home Office support, see section 10.6.

Additionally, a parent who is seeking asylum and is assessed by adult social care as having accommodation-related care and support needs will need to be provided with accommodation and financial support by the local authority and will no longer qualify for section 95 Home Office support. Where their household includes a child under 18, children’s social care may need to fund any additional financial support under section 17 of the Children Act, and, if there is no centralised budget for supporting households with no recourse to public funds, may need to agree with adult social care how to share the accommodation costs for the family. For more information about accommodating adult asylum seekers with care and support needs, see section 5.2.3 of the NRPF Network practice guidance, ‘Assessing and supporting adults with no recourse to public funds’.

4.4.3 Families eligible for section 4 support

When a family is eligible for section 4 (rather than section 95) asylum support, the local authority can only refer them to the Home Office for accommodation and financial support if they are certain that the support will be ‘available and adequate’. The courts have suggested that it is unlikely that section 4 support would be sufficient to meet a child’s needs. (R (VC & Ors) v Newcastle City Council [2011] EWHC 2673 (Admin) & R (C, T, M and U) v London Borough of Southwark [2016] EWCA Civ 707).

If the local authority is not certain that a family will qualify for section 4 support or cannot demonstrate that section 4 support will adequately meet a child’s assessed needs, accommodation and financial support under section 17 of the Children Act may need to be provided.

Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 will apply where a parent is an ARE asylum seeker and claimed asylum in-country or has failed to comply with removal directions. Therefore, the provision of accommodation and financial support under section 17 to an ARE asylum seeking family will usually be subject to a human rights assessment that considers whether there are any legal or practical barriers to return. For more information about human rights assessments, see section 4.3.

4.4.4 Children living in Home Office accommodation

Children who are accommodated by the Home Office with their families may be referred to children’s services for additional support. It may be beneficial for families to receive early help in order to assist them to access local services and support their integration into the community. However, in some cases, a child and their parents may require services under section 17 of the Children Act, such as services to meet the needs of a disabled child.

Families that are accommodated by the Home Office in hotels or hostels, where food and toiletries are provided, receive a very limited amount of financial support. Additional Home Office support can be requested in some cases under section 96 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. For more information about claiming additional asylum support, see the NRPF Network website.

4.5 Pregnant women

A local authority can provide a pregnant woman who has no recourse to public funds with accommodation and financial support when she does not have a child in her care. However, local authorities may take different approaches with regards to whether adult social care or children’s social care provide such support to a pregnant woman.

When a pregnant woman with no recourse to public funds is homeless, at risk of homelessness or has insufficient income to meet her basic living needs, adult social care should undertake a needs assessment to establish whether the pregnant woman has eligible care and support needs.

If the assessment concludes that the woman does not have any care and support needs, other than those related to the pregnancy, then adult social care must consider whether accommodation can be provided under section 19(1) of the Care Act 2014. Section 19(1) provides the local authority with a discretionary power to meet non-eligible care and support needs. When a pregnant woman with no recourse to public funds does not meet the Care Act eligibility criteria and has no other means of accessing accommodation or funds then in many cases it will be appropriate for the local authority to provide accommodation and/or financial support under section 19(1).

Although the Care Act 2014 provides the legislative basis for providing support to a pregnant woman, in practice, it might be more appropriate for children’s social care to deliver support for the following reasons:

• When the child is born, children’s social care will need to undertake a child in need assessment with a view to providing the family with accommodation and financial support under section 17 of the Children Act
• In some cases, a pre-birth assessment will need to be carried out by children’s social care
• As soon as the mother is supported, she will need to be assisted to establish a pathway off support and long-term solution to her situation of destitution, which may be more effectively progressed when one service maintains responsibility for her support

For more information about pathways off support see chapter 9.

When schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 applies because the pregnant woman has no lawful status in the UK, the provision of accommodation and financial support under section 19(1) of the Care Act (or section 17 of the Children Act following the birth of the child) will be subject to a human rights assessment that considers whether there are any legal or practical barriers preventing the family from returning to their country of origin. The stage of pregnancy, baby’s age and any additional health complications affecting the mother or baby will be relevant considerations when identifying whether there is a practical barrier to return. For more information about human rights assessments, see section 4.3.

For more information about providing support to a pregnant woman under the Care Act, see section 4.4 of the NRPF Network practice guidance, ‘Assessing and supporting adults with no recourse to public funds‘.

In England, mothers who are without lawful status in the UK are likely to be charged for maternity care provided in a NHS hospital. Although patients can be charged up front for secondary healthcare, a pregnant woman who is required to pay for treatment should not be denied antenatal treatment or other maternity care as this must be treated as ‘urgent or immediately necessary’. For more information about entitlements to healthcare, see the NRPF Network website.

 

5.  Duty to assess need

This chapter sets out when a local authority will be required to undertake a child in need assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

5.1 Timeframe

The local authority must decide within one working day of receiving a referral whether it is necessary to proceed with a statutory assessment of need.

The statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children states:

153. Within one working day of a referral being received, local authority children’s social care should acknowledge receipt to the referrer and a social work qualified practice supervisor or manager should decide next steps and the type of response required. This will include determining whether:

• the child requires immediate protection and urgent action is required

• the child is in need and should be assessed under section 17 of the Children Act 1989

• there is reasonable cause to suspect that the child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, and whether enquiries must be made, and the child assessed under section 47 of the Children Act 1989

• any immediate services are required urgently by the child and family and what type of services

• further specialist assessments are required to help the local authority to decide what further action to take

• to see the child as soon as possible if the decision is taken that the referral requires further assessment

5.2 Threshold to undertake a needs assessment

When it appears that there is a child in need in its area, the local authority must undertake an assessment under section 17 of the Children Act. (See: R (G) v Barnet LBC [2003] 3 WLR 1194.)

The threshold for undertaking a child in need assessment is low and will usually be met when a family does not appear to have adequate accommodation or has insufficient income to meet the child’s basic needs because of the parent’s inability to access benefits, or, in some cases, employment. When the threshold is met, a child in need assessment must be undertaken. (See: R (AM) v London Borough of Havering and London Borough of Tower Hamlets [2015] EWHC 1004.)

Section 17(1)(a) of the Children Act specifies that:

It shall be the general duty of every local authority… to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.

Schedule 2 states that:

1(1) Every local authority shall take reasonable steps to identify the extent to which there are children in need within their area.
…
3 Where it appears to a local authority that a child within their area is in need, the authority may assess his needs for the purposes of this Act at the same time as any assessment of his needs…

The definition of a ‘child in need’ is set out at section 6.1 of this guidance.

Families with no recourse to public funds often approach children’s social care for assistance when they are already, or are about to become, homeless. However, the assessment threshold can also be met in other circumstances.

For example, an assessment will be required when a child:

• Is homeless or about to become homeless
• Is living in accommodation that is unsuitable for the child due to overcrowding or disrepair, or gives rise to safeguarding risks
• Has adequate accommodation but the parent has insufficient income to meet their basic needs, such as food, heating and clothing
• Has experienced a lengthy period of instability involving frequent moves between accommodation or areas that may have affected their development
• Is disabled

5.3 Which authority is responsible for assessing need?

Generally, the local authority in which the child is physically present will be responsible for undertaking the child in need assessment. This is usually where the child is living but could be where they are attending school.

In a case involving a family that was found to be intentionally homeless and was subsequently referred to children’s social care for section 17 support, the court found that the duty to assess under section 17(1)(a) is triggered by the physical presence of a child in need in the local authority’s area. (See: R (Stewart) v London Borough of Wandsworth & Ors [2001] EWHC 709)

When a child has been present in a local authority’s area for a short time in comparison to the area where they had previously resided, their current local authority will have a duty to undertake an assessment if the child appears to be in need.

In R (BC) v Birmingham City Council [2016] EWHC 3156, a mother with no recourse to public funds and her son had been living with the mother’s partner in the London Borough of Bromley. The relationship broke down in early July 2016 and the mother moved in with her cousin in Birmingham. Her son stayed with a friend in London until October, when he joined his mother in Birmingham. A few days later, the family requested assistance from Birmingham City Council.

Birmingham City Council did not initially undertake a child in need assessment, instead offering the family transport back to London, asserting that Bromley was responsible because the family were originally living in that area. The Court found that, as the child had been living in Birmingham, the child’s physical presence was sufficient to establish that it fell to Birmingham City Council to assess the child’s needs under section 17, and the authority had acted unlawfully by asserting that the family’s claim for support should be made to the London Borough of Bromley. The Court noted that, although a local authority would be responsible for assessing need that arose whilst the child was living in its area, this does not mean that a second local authority would have no responsibility should the family move into its area.

More than one local authority can have a duty to undertake a child in need assessment and, in such cases, must co-operate in order to exercise their duties in relation to support for children and families in order to comply with section 27 of the Children Act 1989 and section 10 of the Children Act 2004.

In R (Stewart) v London Borough of Wandsworth, the child was attending school in a different local authority area to where they were living. The Court found that the duty to undertake an assessment was found to apply to both local authorities. In such circumstances, the Court suggested that it would not be necessary for both to assess need, although potentially the costs of meeting the child’s needs could be shared:

…in a case where more than one authority is under a duty to assess the needs of the child, there is clearly no reason for more than one authority to in fact assess a child’s needs and there is a manifest case for co-operation under section 27 of the Children Act and a sharing of burden by the authorities. (Paragraph 28.)

It is advisable to consult with the local authority’s legal department if there is uncertainty regarding responsibility for meeting a child’s needs under section 17. However, when responsibility for undertaking an assessment or providing services is being disputed by two local authorities, a child’s needs should be met first and a redistribution of resources should, if necessary, take place afterwards. (See: R (M) v LB Barking & Dagenham & Westminster City Council [2002] EWHC 2663 & R (AM) v London Borough of Havering [2015] EWHC 1004)

5.4 Reassessing need

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of a child in need remains an ongoing duty and a family’s circumstances may change after an initial needs assessment has been concluded. When there is a change of circumstances or new information is made available after a family has been refused support under section 17 following a child in need assessment, the local authority may need to review the child in need assessment rather than relying on the decision that was made when the family originally presented.

‘Working together to safeguard children’, at paragraph 162, that the assessment must be:

..a dynamic process, not an event, analysing and responding to the changing nature and level of need and/or risk faced by the child from within and outside their family.

When a local authority is made aware of new information after the initial needs assessment has been concluded, or further material information comes to light which suggests that a child may be in need, the local authority must make inquiries in order to decide whether a reassessment is required. (See: R (U & U) v Milton Keynes Council [2017] EWHC 3050, paragraphs 27 & 38.)

When a reassessment is carried out, the local authority must consider all new relevant information. A reassessment does not need to be an entirely new document but must be a fresh assessment taking into account the totality of the evidence. (See: R (AA) v The London Borough of Southwark [2020] EWHC 2487 (Admin).)

6.  Assessing need

This chapter sets out how a local authority must assess the needs of a child within a family that has no recourse to public funds in order to determine whether accommodation and financial support can be provided under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

6.1 Statutory requirements

A family’s eligibility for section 17 support will be determined by the outcome of a child in need assessment. When a child is found to be a ‘child in need’ due to their parent’s inability to obtain suitable accommodation or to meet the costs of the child’s basic needs, the courts have been clear that the power under section 17 to provide accommodation and financial support can amount to a duty when there is no alternative support available. For more information, see section 1.2.

A child in need assessment must be undertaken in line with the statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children. This may be referred to as a ‘child in need’, ‘child and family’ or ‘single’ assessment. The assessment must be carried out within 45 working days of receiving the referral.

A ‘child in need’ as defined at section 17(10) of the Children Act:

(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,
and “family”, in relation to such a child, includes any person who has parental responsibility for the child and any other person with whom he has been living.

The assessment must be child-centred and focus on action and outcomes for children, including the provision of services in relation to all of the child’s identified needs, including any relating to a disability.

Working Together to Safeguard Children states, at page 53:

To fulfil [the section 17] duty, practitioners undertake assessments of the needs of individual children, giving due regard to a child’s age and understanding when determining what, if any, services to provide.

Every assessment must be informed by the views of the child as well as the family, and a child’s wishes and feelings must be sought regarding the provision of services to be delivered. Where possible, children should be seen alone. Where a child requests to be seen with a trusted adult, this should be supported. A child’s communication needs should be taken into account. When assessing children in need and providing services, specialist assessments may be required and, where possible, should be co-ordinated so that the child and family experience a coherent process and a single plan of action.
…
161. Assessments should be child-centred and responsive to the voice of the child. This means decisions should be made in the child’s best interests, rooted in child development, age-appropriate, sensitive to the impact of adversity and trauma and informed by evidence. Observation can be an important way to get the perspective of babies, infants, and non-verbal children. In the case of disabled children, practitioners should consider whether any specialist communication support is required and consider how advocacy services can support the child to communicate their views.

The guidance recommends that a conceptual model is the best way to deliver a comprehensive assessment for all children, giving an example at page 57 which investigates three domains:

• the child’s developmental needs
• the capacity of parents or carers (resident and non-resident) and any other adults living in the household to respond to those needs
• the impact and influence of the family network and any other adults living in the household as well as community and environmental circumstances

For an assessment to comply with the statutory guidance and remain child-focused, the family’s communication requirements will need to be met. The child and parent will need to be able to fully understand the social worker’s questions and any findings that are presented to them. When a parent or child is not a fluent English speaker, it will be necessary to use a council-approved interpreting service. It is good practice to employ an interpreter when a family’s first language is not English in order to ensure that they can fully participate in and understand the assessment process.

Families have the right for an appropriate representative to accompany them to meetings, such as a support worker from an independent advocacy organisation. In a complaint investigation, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council (18 005 804) (Local Government  & Social Care Ombudsman, November 2019),  the Ombudsman found the council to be at fault for failing to allow a parent to have her representative present in assessment meetings.

It is essential that accurate records of enquiries and the parent and children’s responses are maintained throughout the assessment process. The courts will give significant weight to the professional views of social workers and, when making findings about the lawfulness of an assessment, will focus on what was known to the social workers at the time having made reasonable enquiries. (See: R (SN, PN and CN) v London Borough of Enfield & London Borough of Haringey [2019] EWHC 793.)

The family would need to be provided with the outcome of the assessment in writing, which may also need to be explained to them using an interpreter.

6.1.1 Identifying a lead practitioner

In order to determine which practitioner will lead the needs assessment, it will be necessary to follow the guidance in Working Together to Safeguard Children as well as any procedures specified by the local safeguarding children partnership.

Although consideration of the parent’s financial circumstances will be an important aspect of an assessment for a child in a family with no recourse to public funds, this must not be the sole focus, as a holistic approach must be taken when considering an individual child’s needs. Therefore, the lead practitioner must hold appropriate social work skills and expertise. Where a local safeguarding children partnership specifies in its procedures that a child in need assessment must be carried out by a qualified social worker, then this would equally apply to a child in a household with no recourse to public funds.

Working Together to Safeguard Children states:

156. Once the referral has been accepted by local authority children’s social care, a social work qualified practice supervisor or manager should decide, with partners where appropriate, who the most appropriate lead practitioner will be and with the lead practitioner’s agreement, allocate them in line with the local protocol.

157. The lead practitioner role can be held by a range of people, including social workers. When allocating the lead practitioner, local authorities and their partners should consider the needs of the child and their family to ensure the lead practitioner has the time required to undertake the role. The lead practitioner should have the skills, knowledge, competence, and experience to work effectively with the child and their family. The lead practitioner should always be a social worker for child protection enquiries.

158. Lead practitioners should have access to high quality supervision.

6.2 Impact of homelessness or the parent having insufficient income to meet the child’s basic needs

Families with no recourse to public funds typically present to children’s social care when they are experiencing homelessness or a change in financial circumstances that has been caused by other events affecting the family, such as illness, an eviction, domestic abuse, or a relationship breakdown. The impact of such events on the child must be fully considered within the assessment.

When a family with no recourse to public funds is homeless or at risk of homelessness, or the parent has insufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs, the courts have been clear that section 17 will be engaged to provide accommodation and financial support to the family.

A child without accommodation will be a child in need. (See: R v Northavon District Council, Ex p Smith [1994] 2 AC 402.)

A child who is lacking food, clothing, or suitable accommodation will be a child in need due to the adverse impact not having access to such things is likely to have on their health or development. In the case of a family where the parent had leave to remain with a NRPF condition, the courts found that ‘the local authority is empowered [under section 17] to rescue a child in need from destitution where no other state provision is available’. (See: R (AC & SH) v London Borough of Lambeth Council [2017] EWHC 1796, paragraph 42.)

Children’s social care will need to refer to any guidance that the local safeguarding children partnership provides about thresholds or indicators of need. Homelessness, inadequate or unsafe living arrangements, and the inability to afford food, shelter, clothing and other basic items are all likely to be indicators that a statutory child in need intervention is required.

6.3 Assessing the parent’s financial means

For a child within a family that has no recourse to public funds, it will be necessary to consider whether the parent’s inability to access benefits or other services due to their immigration status is relevant to the needs assessment. Where a family is at risk of homelessness, or the parent has insufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs, an analysis of the family’s financial needs will be an important aspect of the assessment in order to determine whether accommodation and financial support can be provided.

In several legal challenges brought against local authorities, the courts have examined the lawfulness of assessments relating to section 17 support for families with no recourse to public funds. These judgements provide local authorities with several guiding principles that can be followed when assessing the needs of a child within a family with no recourse to public funds.

The local authority will need to:

• Individually assess each child’s needs by reference to the statutory guidance and assessment framework rather than adopting a separate policy for a particular group of children. (See: R(C, T, M and U) v London Borough of Southwark [2016] EWCA Civ 707, paragraphs 16 & 18.)
• Gather information which is adequate for the purpose of performing its statutory duty under section 17 and must also have due regard to the child’s best interests in the context of having regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. (See: R (C, T, M and U) v London Borough of Southwark, paragraph 12.)
• Undertake an evaluative assessment and consider the family situation in the round, with thorough investigations and properly documented findings (See: R (C, T, M and U) v London Borough of Southwark & R (BC) v Birmingham City Council [2016] EWHC 3156.)
• Ensure that it identifies and assesses any other needs a child has, such as needs relating to a disability, in addition to those relating to the family’s lack of accommodation and resources. (See: R (AC & SH) v London Borough of Lambeth Council.)

When a parent is unable to obtain adequate accommodation or has insufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs, such as food, heating, and clothing, the needs assessment must consider what impact this has on the child’s personal development and well-being, alongside any other relevant factors. In such cases, the social worker will need to identify whether any funds and resources are available to the parent to acquire suitable housing and meet the costs of the child’s basic needs, taking into account the impact of any immigration restrictions. The sustainability of any identified sources of support must also be considered.

Section 17(8) states:

Before giving any assistance or imposing any conditions, a local authority shall have regard to the means of the child concerned and of each of his parents.

There is no specific test or criteria to establish whether a child is in need due to their parent’s inability to obtain suitable accommodation or meet the costs of their child’s basic needs. Thresholds, such as the asylum support definition of destitution, should not be applied. Instead, children’s social care will need to explore the family’s housing and financial circumstances within a holistic child in need assessment.

Where there are several indications that alternative support may be available to a family, the local authority would need to conduct full enquiries about the availability and suitability of such support, as well as providing the parent with an opportunity to address any concerns raised by the local authority. (See: R (BC) v Birmingham City Council.)

In some instances, a local authority might determine that a family has the financial means to access accommodation and therefore the child is not in need. However, before reaching such a conclusion, the local authority must:

• Specify which friends or family members would be able to provide accommodation, if relying on those
• Properly consider the cost of staying in private accommodation or a B&B against the parent’s available resources
• Consider the impact on the child’s welfare if temporary accommodation solutions are being proposed, such as hotel stays
• Identify whether the parent has a right to rent
• When the parent does not have a right to rent, refer to the Right to Rent: Landlords’ Penalties guidance (Home Office, November 2020) to establish if they are likely to be granted permission to rent

(See: R(BC) v Birmingham City Council & R (JA) v The London Borough of Bexley [2019] EWHC 130 (Admin).)

6.4 Addressing information gaps and credibility

There are many reasons why a parent may be unable or unwilling to provide some of the information that they have been asked for regarding their address history or financial circumstances. As well as understanding what restrictions the parent may have been subject to due to their immigration status, as described in section 6.5, social workers will need to ensure that they are making relevant enquiries and providing the parent with an opportunity to respond to any concerns that they have about the information provided. The courts have provided some guidance about how to approach information gaps and address credibility issues within a needs assessment.

The courts have found that:

• When a family is clearly homeless or destitute at the present time, concerns regarding the parent’s credibility or previous access to resources will not be relevant. (See: R (JA) v the London Borough of Bexley.)
• When a family has supported themselves in the UK without access to public funds for a number of years, the local authority must enquire why and how this has changed.
• The family will need to comply with questions about their support history, providing evidence if this is available. (See: O v London Borough of Lambeth [2016] EWHC 937.)
• Any concerns about gaps or inconsistent information must be put to the family and their response will need to be properly considered. (See: MN & KN v London Borough of Hackney [2013] EWHC 1205 (Admin), N and N v London Borough of Newham & Anor [2013] EWHC 2475 (Admin) & O v London Borough of Lambeth.)
• The assessment will be procedurally unfair if concerns are not put to the parent before adverse inferences are drawn. (See: R (S&J) v London Borough of Haringey [2016] EWHC 2692.)
• When the parent fails to provide information that has been requested, the local authority can only draw adverse inferences if the correct investigations have been made and any concerns are put to the parent. Decisions must be based on detailed and documented investigations that provide the parents with adequate opportunity to supply the requested information (See: MN & KN v London Borough of Hackney, N and N v London Borough of Newham, and O v London Borough of Lambeth.)

6.5 Impact of immigration-based exclusions

When a parent’s ability to provide their child with food, clothing and shelter is being considered in the needs assessment, it will be necessary to be aware of immigration-related restrictions that affect what the parent can access or be expected to access. These restrictions may also limit the documents that would ordinarily be available to a family to evidence their financial circumstances. As families with no recourse to public funds can be vulnerable to exploitation and criminality, it will be necessary to be alert to any related safeguarding risks that may arise.

Establishing a family’s entitlement to services can be complex and assumptions should not be made about what they can or cannot access. The information in this section is intended to assist a social worker’s understanding of how a parent’s immigration status affects the family’s entitlements and determines what restrictions they face.

6.5.1 Parents with leave to remain

A parent who has limited leave to remain with a ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition will usually have permission to work. If they lose their employment, cannot work due to caring responsibilities or ill-health, or are working but have a low income, they will not be able to claim universal credit, child benefit, or disability benefits.

There are several additional financial pressures that parents who have leave to remain with NRPF face:

• High fees when they extend their leave to remain – for example, an adult making an application on the partner or parent route will need to pay £3,845.50 to extend their visa every 30 months until they are able to obtain indefinite leave to remain (often after 10 years)
• No access to legal aid funding for immigration advice when they have a low income
• No access to free childcare hours for working parents or tax-free childcare
  Ineligible for the healthy start scheme, unless they have a British child

Therefore, even when a parent is working and has a regular income, being subject to a NRPF condition can significantly impede their ability to afford to meet their child’s basic needs. In such cases, the local authority will have a positive duty to provide accommodation and/or financial support. (See: R (AC & SH) v London Borough of Lambeth.)

In some cases, the local authority may only be required to provide section 17 support for a short period if the parent is able to apply to the Home Office for a change of conditions to lift the NRPF condition or for the Migrant Victim of Domestic Abuse Concession. For more information about these and other immigration options, see chapter 9.

6.5.2 Parents with a student or work visa

Local authorities may receive a request for support from a parent who has a student or work visa, such as the health and care worker visa, or from a parent with a dependent partner visa who has separated from the student or work visa holder.

Students and skilled workers will usually be required to meet financial requirements in order to obtain their visa by evidencing that they had a specified amount of money available to them. In some cases, it may be appropriate to request more information about the visa application from the Home Office. However, unless the family entered the UK relatively recently and the funds are still available to them, this information is unlikely to have a significant bearing on the outcome of the needs assessment.

Students, skilled workers, and health and care workers are tied to the sponsorship of a particular educational institution or employer. Therefore, it will be important to be aware of the consequences for the visa holder and their family if the sponsorship arrangement ends. The sponsorship arrangement also affects a parent’s ability to take on additional employment if they are struggling financially. If the parent appears to no longer be studying or working in accordance with their sponsorship arrangement, they would need to be signposted to appropriate advice as their sponsorship arrangement may not necessarily end immediately. Students can be advised to contact their institution’s international student advice service to discuss their situation if they are struggling to maintain their studies and workers can be signposted to an employment rights service and to immigration advice. For more information about employment rights services, see the NRPF Network website.

Educational institutions and employers are required to inform the Home Office when a sponsored student or employee stops studying or working in accordance with the sponsorship arrangement. The Home Office will then curtail (end) the student or worker’s visa and give them a short period of 60 days in which they must find a new employer or course, apply for leave to remain on a different basis, or leave the UK. When the Home Office revokes the sponsor licence of an educational institution or employer, the leave of any sponsored students or workers will be curtailed. The leave of any family members with dependant visas can also be curtailed at the same time as the worker or student. Families that have their leave curtailed will be at high risk of overstaying and losing their lawful status. Any families at risk of having their leave curtailed would need to be signposted to immigration advice as soon as possible and workers to employment services that may be able to assist them to find a new sponsor that meets their visa requirements.

It is also important to be aware of any indicators that a sponsored worker has been subjected to abuse or mistreatment by their employer. There have been several reports of widespread mistreatment of health and care worker visa holders by their employers. Where indicators of modern slavery are identified, a referral to the National Referral Mechanism will need to be made. The Department of Health and Social Care provides information for health and care worker visa holders, including a list of organisations that can advise on employment rights.

When a sponsored student or worker is complying with their sponsorship requirements but has insufficient income or funds to adequately accommodate or support their family, they will have limited ability to increase their income through employment.

For example:

• A parent with a student visa will usually be restricted to working 20 hours/week
• A parent with a work visa will be limited in any additional work they can carry out when they are sponsored by an employer
• Some skilled workers, including health and care workers, may have an annual salary of £23,200, which is significantly lower than the household income of a working parent with children who claims universal credit
• Partners with dependant visas will usually have permission to work full time but cannot access free childcare for working parents or tax-free childcare, so it may not be affordable for them to take up employment
• Whilst a parent continues to comply with the terms of their sponsorship, the local authority may be required to support the family on a long-term basis if it has assessed that the child is in need due to the parent having insufficient income to obtain suitable accommodation or to meet the costs of their child’s basic needs. In such cases, there may only be limited action that a family in this position can take to establish a pathway off section 17 support. For more information about pathways off support, see chapter 9.

6.5.3 Parents without lawful status

When a parent is without lawful status, they will be subject to significant restrictions intended to impede their ability to live in the UK. These policies are often referred to as the ‘hostile (or compliant) environment’.
When a parent is without lawful status, they may not have access to the usual documents that they might be expected to produce to evidence their financial circumstances, and some alternative support options will not be available to a family.

A parent who is without lawful status in the UK cannot:

• Claim public funds (benefits and local authority housing assistance)
• Work legally
• Open a new current account at a bank or building society, and could have a pre-existing account closed or frozen
• Rent or sub-let a property from a private landlord in England, or be a paying lodger, unless the Home Office grants permission to rent on an exceptional basis

Additionally, when a landlord has reasonable cause to believe that a tenant/occupier does not have valid leave to remain, they may be required to end a tenancy and can undertake possession proceedings without having to obtain a court order. Therefore, eviction procedures can be quicker for families without lawful status.

Local authorities will need to consider how immigration restrictions impact on any findings they make in the needs assessment.

For example, a parent without lawful status:

• Cannot always be expected to provide bank statements or the usual evidence of employment.
• Cannot be expected to work in order to support their family, as they would be committing a criminal offence by doing so.
• Does not have the right to rent, unless they are granted permission to rent, so cannot be expected to source accommodation in the private-rental sector, including hotel or B&B accommodation, even if they have sufficient funds to do so. (See: R (U & U) v Milton Keynes Council [2017] EWHC 3050.)

When a parent is without lawful status in the UK, schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 places a bar on the provision of accommodation and financial support under section 17 of the Children Act, where the family are able to return to their country of origin to avoid destitution in the UK. A human rights assessment will need to be undertaken in addition to the needs assessment. In such cases, the child in need assessment should also address the child’s needs within the country of origin and specify how they may be met. This information will need to be referred to in the human rights assessment if the family’s ability to return to their country of origin is being considered. For more information about human rights assessments, see section 4.3.

There are many reasons why a parent may have no lawful status in the UK and why they have so far been unable to obtain leave to remain, or ‘regularise’ their stay. For example, families are likely to face difficulties accessing free, or good quality, legal advice and may not be able to afford the high fees required for most types of immigration applications. When section 17 support is provided (on an interim or long-term basis), the parent will need to be assisted to access immigration advice so that they can find out what their options are. As section 17 support will only end for the majority of families following a grant of leave to remain, it is also beneficial to the local authority that a family accesses immigration advice as soon as possible. For more information about pathways off support, see chapter 9.

7.  Meeting needs: accommodation

This chapter provides information and best practice when providing families with no recourse to public funds with accommodation under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

7.1 General considerations

The provision of accommodation to meet a child’s needs must be consistent with the local authority’s duty to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 and section 11 of the Children Act 2004. For more information about these duties, see section 1.2.

Support provided under section 17 is often required for lengthy periods, with families supported on average for 1.5 years. Therefore, a child’s welfare is likely to be negatively impacted if the accommodation provided to the family whilst they are receiving section 17 support is unsuitable or does not adequately meet the child’s needs.

Housing costs made up 80% of the total spend on accommodation and financial support of the 78 local authorities providing data through NRPF Connect in March 2024. Therefore, it will be necessary to have a strategy in place to source and manage temporary accommodation. For example, children’s social care within a unitary authority may source accommodation for a section 17 placement through its housing department.

Although any type of accommodation can be provided to a family, where possible, families should be placed in secure, long-term, self-contained accommodation near to their support networks in order to promote a child’s welfare. When, due to limited housing availability, a local authority is not able to provide all of this, the use of other options, such as a hotels or out-of-area placements, will need to be weighed up against the best interests of the child and appropriate steps taken or safeguards put in place in order to manage any risks or practical challenges.

For information about accommodating additional members of a family, such as adult children living in the household, see section 8.4.

7.2 Self-contained privately rented accommodation

Providing a family with self-contained accommodation, where they can remain for the full period that they are supported for under section 17 of the Children Act will usually be the best option to ensure that a child’s needs are met. Such accommodation will usually only be available in the private rented sector.

The Home Office right to rent scheme does not prevent local authorities in England from using accommodation in the private rented sector. Accommodation provided to families supported under section 17 is exempt from the right to rent scheme.

The Landlord’s Guide to Right to Rent Checks (Home Office, February 2024) states:

Accommodation arranged by local authorities

The following residential tenancy agreements are exempt from the scheme, where they are arranged by a local authority which is acting in response to:

• a statutory duty owed to an individual
• a relevant power with the intention of providing accommodation to a person who is homeless, or who is threatened with homelessness

This includes instances where the person is to be placed into a privately rented property by the local authority.

In such circumstances, landlords should ask for written confirmation from the local authority that the authority is acting in response to a statutory duty and keep this on file.

For more information about the right to rent scheme, see the NRPF Network website.

7.3 Local authority temporary accommodation

Where a local authority has units of temporary accommodation within its housing stock, it may be cost-effective to utilise these in order to provide families supported under section 17 of the Children Act with a long-term self-contained placement.

Although social housing and homelessness assistance provided by a local authority under parts VI and VII of the Housing Act 1996 is classed as a ‘public fund’ for immigration purposes, local authority temporary accommodation can be used to accommodate families supported under section 17.

The Public Funds Caseworker Guidance (Home Office, October 2023) confirms that families with no recourse to public funds that are being supported under section 17 can be granted a non-secure tenancy, or licence of housing accommodation by a local housing authority.

7.4 Refuges and housing managed by the voluntary sector

When a parent has experienced domestic abuse, it may be appropriate to place the family in refuge accommodation so that they can access specialist support. A local authority can cover the costs of a refuge placement while a family is supported under section 17 of the Children Act.

Temporary accommodation may be procured through establishing partnerships with local voluntary sector organisations that specialise in providing housing to refugees and other migrants. Such accommodation may more suitably meet a family’s needs than alternative options if it comes with additional benefits, such as access to immigration advice or specialist advocacy services. In some cases, paying a higher rate for specialist accommodation could reduce costs in the longer-term if a family’s immigration matter is resolved quicker than it otherwise would be. The No Accommodation Network publishes a list of its member organisations that provide accommodation to refugees and other migrants across the UK.

7.5 B&B and hotel accommodation

Families placed in bed and breakfast (B&B) or hotel accommodation will not have access to full cooking facilities and may be required to live together in one room. Where possible, such accommodation should only be used on an emergency basis for a short time. Living in a hotel placement for prolonged periods is likely to have an adverse impact on a child and the high expense of using hotel placements.

In R (C, T, M & U) v LB Southwark [2014] EWHC 3983 (Admin), the judge noted that accommodating a mother and three young children in single room B&B accommodation for longer than a few weeks ‘was inappropriate and bound to have some adverse impact on them’. However, due to the particular facts of the case, the local authority was found not to have acted unlawfully by accommodating the family in a B&B for eight months. In drawing that conclusion, it was relevant that the accommodation was in the family’s preferred area, facilitated family life, and enabled the children to continue to attend their existing school and maintain social networks. It was also relevant that there was a chronic shortage of suitable rental accommodation available and that offers of alternative accommodation were made to the mother but were not considered by her to be ideal.

7.6 Out-of-area placements

When a family supported under section 17 of the Children Act is placed in out-of-area accommodation, the placing authority will be responsible for funding the family’s accommodation and providing adequate financial support whilst the child remains in need. The receiving authority will be responsible for meeting any additional needs or safeguarding concerns.

It will be necessary to consider how a child’s needs will be met when offering accommodation out of area, and how risks and practical challenges can be effectively managed from a distance.

7.6.1 Accommodation offers

When offering a family out of area accommodation whilst they are supported under section 17, the local authority must ensure that the needs of the child are clearly identified, properly considered and documented within a needs assessment or assessment review.

The impact of an out-of-area placement on a child will need to be balanced against the limited resources available to the local authority to deliver support to the family. Factors that the local authority may need to consider include:

Frequent moves or accommodation placements that are far away from established support networks or services may have a negative impact on a child’s development, as well as their parent’s well-being or mental health.

Placing families in low-cost accommodation far away from their established support networks could result in more significant or time-intensive interventions being required to ensure that the relocation is sustainable and does not have a detrimental impact on the child.

Whether a service or support that is being provided to a child to meet any additional needs can be duplicated in another local authority area.

Some guidance about how to approach an assessment is set out by the Court of Appeal in R (C, T, M and U) v London Borough of Southwark [2016]:

..the overarching obligation imposed on local authorities in England (and their specified partner agencies) by section 11 CA 2004 is to “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.” That overarching obligation casts the evidential net rather wide so that a decision based on an assessment undertaken for the purposes of section 17 CA 1989 should identify how the local authority has had regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children both individually (i.e. the subject children as regards the claim) and collectively: see, for example Nzolameso v Westminster City Council [2015] UKSC 22, [2015] PTSR 549 at [24] to [27] per Baroness Hale of Richmond DPSC.

In Nzolameso v City of Westminster [2015] UKSC 22, the Supreme Court considered a family’s refusal to take up an offer of accommodation in Milton Keynes made under part VII of the Housing Act 1996. The Supreme Court found that (at paragraph 27), when determining suitability of accommodation, the local authority must have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children in the household and identify and have regard to the principal needs of the children, both individually and collectively:

The question of whether the accommodation offered is “suitable” for the applicant and each member of her household clearly requires the local authority to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of any children in her household. Its suitability to meet their needs is a key component in its suitability generally. In my view, it is not enough for the decision-maker simply to ask whether any of the children are approaching GCSE or other externally assessed examinations. Disruption to their education and other support networks may be actively harmful to their social and educational development, but the authority also have to have regard to the need to promote, as well as to safeguard, their welfare. The decision maker should identify the principal needs of the children, both individually and collectively, and have regard to the need to safeguard and promote them when making the decision.

The Supreme Court’s findings with regards to assessing the suitability of out of area accommodation placements have been incorporated into the Homelessness Code of Guidance (MHCLG, June 2024). Therefore, having regard to chapter 17 of the Code of Guidance when determining the suitability of out of area placements will help ensure that Nzolameso v City of Westminster and section 11 of the Children Act 2004 are correctly applied when families are supported under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

7.6.2 Managing risks

The placing authority will be responsible for funding the family’s accommodation, providing adequate financial support and maintaining any arrangements with accommodation providers or other organisations that have been commissioned to support the family. It may be necessary to establish a local procedure that sets out what action will be taken to ensure that family members continue to receive the support they need and to identify any potential safeguarding risks that may arise following the placement.

Local authorities placing families out of area will need to ensure that children’s social care in the receiving authority is notified, relevant information about the family is shared, and that all practitioners involved with the family are clear about their roles.

Children’s social care will need to notify the receiving authority that they have placed a child in need in its area. The receiving authority will be responsible for undertaking any additional social work actions identified in the child in need or safeguarding plan (as applicable), and for addressing any such issues that arise during the time of the placement. Depending on the family’s circumstances, the receiving authority may decide that the family may benefit from support, such as early help, to ensure that the family link into relevant local services.

In the serious case review, ‘Child G‘ (Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board, January 2018), one of the learning points made was that it is good practice for a placing authority to share the child’s needs assessment with the receiving authority. The board reviewed the death of Child G, whose family had no recourse to public funds. The family was supported under section 17 of the Children Act by a London borough and placed in accommodation in Wolverhampton. The review also noted that practitioners have a shared ‘explain and ask’ role to understand the responsibilities of specialist staff. In this case, practitioners had low awareness of the placing authority NRPF social worker’s role. (Serious case reviews are now referred to as ‘local child safeguarding practice reviews’.)

Notifications made through social care systems may not reach no recourse to public funds teams that are not based within children’s social care. Therefore, it would be good practice to implement a process to ensure that such alerts are flagged with any dedicated workers or team. Where both authorities are using NRPF Connect, the receiving authority will be able to use the system to find out which authority is financially supporting a family that is placed in its area.

The placing authority will need to establish processes to ensure that:

• Families can be assisted to access relevant services, including education, health, cultural or religious organisations, and any specialist support in the new area, including migrant support organisations
• Contact with the family can be maintained
• Regular reviews are undertaken (jointly with the receiving authority if necessary)
• Any changes to the family’s circumstances can be identified and quickly responded to
• The family are supported to resolve their immigration matter
• Any additional needs that the child has are properly met
• Responsibility for relevant actions and the roles of practitioners are clarified between the local authority, accommodation providers, receiving authority (if involved) and any other services commissioned to assist the family

Some local authorities have commissioned independent social workers to carry out reviews and welfare checks when they have placed significant numbers of families in another region.

The serious case review, ‘Ellie’ (pdf) (Medway Safeguarding Children Board, January 2018) was carried out following the unexplained death of a mother and her child, who was two years and seven months’ old. The review provides some important learning with regards to the use of out of area placements and commissioning arrangements with accommodation providers.

Ellie and her mother were supported under section 17 of the Children Act by Croydon Council. They were initially placed in a B&B, then were moved to a property in Wolverhampton. Two months after their initial presentation, they were placed in accommodation in Gillingham, Kent. The property provider undertook visits, which focused on the use of the property rather than the family’s welfare. No action was taken to help the family to link in with local services. When Ellie and her mother were found dead in the flat, the flat contained no food.

The findings and learning from the review provide some insight into the impact of out of area placements on a family and how lack of contact, either with the placing local authority or accommodation provider, can result in the failure to identify and address a family’s welfare needs.

Key points of learning stated in the review include:

4.2.1 The ordinary ‘safety-net’ represented by relatives, friends, neighbours, nursery school etc may be entirely absent for a family moved around the country and seeking to avoid attention for fear of removal.

4.2.3 It is clear though that lawful and efficient responses are not always enough to compensate for the very particular vulnerabilities of the extremely marginalised group represented by those who have NRPF.

The review also highlighted that multiple moves within a short timeframe would have undermined any potential for continuity of primary health care (paragraph 2.3.21).

It also found that commissioning arrangements of the family’s accommodation required a need for greater specificity and a shared understanding of what was required, stating:

5.1.3 It would have been helpful if the contract for provision of accommodation had also included a specified induction to the local sources of support and a quantified frequency/ purpose of contact. The most relevant missed opportunity though for linking the family into local sources of support was at the point of the mother registering with the GP Practice. (In this instance, there was no systematic communication pathway from GP Practices to notify the Health Visiting or School Nursing Service about the registration of an out of area child).

7.7 Accommodation procurement models

For unitary authorities, it can be helpful to utilise the expertise of the housing department in sourcing and managing accommodation provided to families under section 17. This would ensure that standards that are applied to accommodation provided to families under part VII of the Housing Act 1996 are also met for families supported under section 17. Using accommodation sourced by the housing department may also help to reduce risks that families need to be moved due to circumstances outside of the local authority’s control, such as due to a landlord failing to address repairs.

Examples of arrangements used by local authorities include:

• Setting up an agreement with the housing department in a unitary authority to source and manage accommodation placements – this may extend to employing a dedicated housing officer to work specifically with families supported under section 17
• Establishing a list of ‘approved providers’ based on the landlords/agencies that have been checked and approved by the housing authority, which can be accessed by children’s social care directly
• Using a temporary accommodation unit as interim accommodation before moving families onto longer-term self-contained properties
• Letting council-owned accommodation or temporary accommodation to families via a leasing scheme
• Paying or topping up rent directly to a landlord, where families already have a tenancy

It will be necessary to ensure that there are dedicated staff who can deal with property management, safety and maintenance issues, as local authorities often report that this work can be very time-consuming for social workers and NRPF caseworkers.

County councils will also need to consider how they can work in partnership with district housing authorities to set up similar arrangements.

It will also be necessary to consider cost-effective ways of funding accommodation providers. For example, a nightly rate might be more expensive on a daily basis but the local authority will avoid being tied in to a long-term rental commitment.

8.  Meeting needs: subsistence

This chapter provides information to inform best practice in developing a subsistence policy in order to meet a child’s needs through providing financial support to a family under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

8.1 Developing a subsistence policy

Each local authority is responsible for determining how much financial support (subsistence) is provided to a family supported under section 17 of the Children Act. It will be necessary to establish a policy to clarify how levels of support are determined, so that a consistent approach is taken across all teams and decision-making is transparent. Within its policy, the local authority may also set minimum levels of support that act as a baseline for determining the child and their family’s full support package.

Providing a comprehensive support package that meets a child and their family’s needs will promote independence, reduce the complexity of individual assessments of need, and reduce staff-time spent dealing with issues that arise when families struggle to cope financially. As families are, on average, supported under section 17 for 1.5 years, paying a minimum level to cover essential living items may not assist financial independence or promote a child’s welfare if only the immediate, rather than longer-term, needs of the child are being met.

As section 17 is a target duty and local authorities need to comply with the statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, any decision regarding the level of financial support provided to a family must be based on an assessment of the child’s needs. Therefore, in all cases, meeting a child’s identified needs must remain at the forefront of any policy.

It is recommended that subsistence policies are implemented with director-level agreement. There are significant resource implications for local authorities in the absence of government funding to contribute to the costs of delivering long-term support to families with no recourse to public funds. However, subsistence support only made up one-fifth of the total spend on accommodation and financial support of the 78 local authorities providing data through NRPF Connect in March 2024. Therefore, having a strategy to procure and manage accommodation is also necessary. For more information about providing accommodation to meet a child’s needs, see chapter 7.

Although the courts have now specified that the absolute minimum amount that a local authority must pay to meet a family’s essential living needs is equivalent to asylum support rates that are set by the Home Office, there will be many situations where families will need to be paid significantly more than the level of asylum support.

Regular formal and informal assessments of individual need must form part of a local authority’s subsistence rates policy to ensure that any arising needs are adequately met and existing needs are regularly reviewed. Feedback from families and empowering staff to use their discretion to meet individual needs will ensure that a child’s needs are not left wanting. It is also necessary to be responsive to any significant changes in case law and ensure that policies are regularly reviewed and any changes are implemented in a timely manner.

A subsistence policy will need to:

• Be compliant with the Children Act 1989, statutory guidance, and findings made by the courts relating to the provision of financial support under section 17 (as set out in section 8.2)
• Be consistent with the local authority’s corporate priorities and values
• Specify how the amount payable to a particular family will be established
• Specify how regularly a family’s needs will be reviewed and when the overall policy will be reviewed
• Specify how support will be administered to families
• Be made available to families receiving section 17 support
• Include information about how a family can request additional support and who they can contact if they are unhappy about the amount of support they are receiving

Where a local authority sets minimum support rates, the policy will need to specify:

• Under what circumstances the minimum rates can be varied to meet a child’s needs and to take into account any other regular income sources that the parent may have, such as child benefit
• How the minimum rates have been reached, including any benchmarking against levels of support paid by the Home Office, DWP, other local authorities, or whether other relevant information has been taken into account
• How any gaps in general provision for low-income families are covered, such as grants for school uniforms
• When and how rates will be varied as any amounts that the policy benchmarks against or refers to change

8.2 Statutory requirements

For all families with no recourse to public funds, any decision determining support levels must be undertaken lawfully, rationally and fairly, and be compatible with the family’s human rights. In order to implement section 17 of the Children Act and the statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, all decisions must focus on meeting a child’s needs for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the child’s welfare.

Although adopting standardised policies relating to accommodation and financial support provision for families will assist fair, rational and consistent decision-making, meeting an individual child’s assessed needs must remain the central consideration.

Given that section 17 support is often provided for lengthy periods, it will be important to consider how any financial support that is provided to a family adequately meets the child’s needs.

Section 17(6) allows a local authority to provide accommodation and financial support to meet a child’s needs:

The services provided by a local authority in the exercise of functions conferred on them by this section may include providing accommodation and giving assistance in kind or in cash.

The local authority is not limited with regards to the type of support that can be provided to meet a child’s needs under section 17. Schedule 2, part I, para. 8 of the Children Act states:

Provision for children living with their families
Every local authority shall make such provision as they consider appropriate for the following services to be available with respect to children in need within their area while they are living with their families—
(a) advice, guidance and counselling;
(b) occupational, social, cultural or recreational activities;
(c) home help (which may include laundry facilities);
(d) facilities for, or assistance with, travelling to and from home for the purpose of taking advantage of any other service provided under this Act or of any similar service;
(e) assistance to enable the child concerned and his family to have a holiday.

Support may need to be regularly reviewed to ensure that any changing needs are being addressed and met. Working Together to Safeguard Children states:

175. Judgements may need to be revised as a case progresses and further information comes to light. It is a characteristic of skilled practice that practitioners revisit their assumptions in the light of new evidence and take action to revise their decisions in the best interests of the individual child.

In R (C, T, M and U) v London Borough of Southwark [2016] EWCA Civ 707, the Court of Appeal was clear that section 17 of the Children Act is a target duty and support must meet a child’s assessed need. Therefore, the amount of financial support provided will depend on the social worker’s assessment of the child’s welfare needs and, if setting minimum support rates, there must be scope for flexibility within a policy to ensure the needs of an individual child are met. The local authority must undertake a rational and consistent approach to decision making, which may involve cross-checking with internal guidance or other statutory support schemes, so long as this does not constrain the local authority’s obligation to have regard to the impact of any decision on a child’s welfare.

Payments for the parents must also be made in addition to those considered appropriate to meet the needs of the children but are not required to exceed what is necessary to avoid a breach of the parent’s human rights. (R (PO & Ors) v London Borough of Newham [2014] EWHC 2561 (Admin)).

In R (BCD) v Birmingham Children’s Trust [2023] EWHC 137 (Admin), the court found that the absolute minimum level of financial support payable to all families is the equivalent of Home Office asylum support plus utilities and council tax. It will be unlawful to provide a family supported under section 17 with anything less than this.

The court went onto identify factors that the local authority would need to consider when establishing how much support to provide to a family. The court differentiated between families where the parent has leave to remain and families where the parent is without lawful status.

8.2.1 Support for families with leave to remain

In R (BCD) v Birmingham Children’s Trust, the court found that where a parent has leave to remain in the UK, section 17 is engaged ‘in full’ to a ‘welfare standard’ and the extent of the support provided will depend on an assessment of the child’s welfare needs.

When supporting a family to a ‘welfare standard’, this is likely to require a significantly higher level of support than the amount provided by the Home Office. The court was clear that support provided under section 17 is intended to meet a child’s welfare needs and can be more than meeting the family’s essential living needs (which asylum support is limited to covering). For example, the court noted that asylum support does not cover toys, books, or recreational or entertainment expenses (such as going to the swimming pool or to the cinema), whereas a local authority can provide family holidays and occupational, social, cultural or recreational activities, to a child in need under section 17. (Schedule 2 Part I, para. 8 of the Children Act 1989).

The court also found that a British child has a right to be treated in the same way as other British children, stating, at paragraph 193, that the local authority must “pay ‘due regard’ to that ‘difference’ with British children as one of many factors in the mix of a needs assessment”.

8.2.2 Support for families without lawful status

In R (BCD) v Birmingham Children’s Trust, the court drew a distinction between families where the parent is lawfully present and families that are subject to schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (‘schedule 3’). A family will be subject to schedule 3 when a parent is without lawful status in the UK and is not seeking asylum. For more information about schedule 3, see section 4.3.

When a parent is without lawful status (and is therefore subject to schedule 3), the local authority is only required to provide financial support under section 17 of the Children Act to the extent necessary to avoid a human rights breach, which in practice will involve providing an amount that covers the family’s essential living needs as an absolute minimum. In such cases, support must meet the child’s needs following an individual assessment and minimum rates must not be directly aligned with asylum support. However, for many families that are subject to schedule 3, the local authority will need to provide higher payments. When deciding how much support to provide to a family, it must consider other factors, such as whether there is an established family or private life (the parent may have made or be in the process of making an application to the Home Office to assert those rights), and whether a child is British (and therefore has a right to be treated in line with other children).

Although the court found that under the statutory framework, support for families that are subject to schedule 3 has a lower potential ceiling than support for families who are not affected by schedule 3, the situation is not so clear-cut when distinguishing these groups in practice due to the challenges families experience obtaining leave to remain.

Our data shows that the majority of families (70% in 2023-24) had their section 17 support ended following a grant of leave to remain, which was usually on a settlement route. Therefore, most families that are subject to schedule 3 will have a long-term future in the UK.

Families may have not been able to regularise their stay before approaching their local authority for support due to difficulties accessing free legal advice to successfully navigate complex immigration rules and prohibitive immigration application fees. Additionally, some children may be entitled to register as British citizens but may have been unable to register due being unaware of their rights or that they might qualify for a fee waiver to cover the high cost of an application.

Immigration status is fluid, so a situation could arise where a family enters support with leave to remain but subsequently overstays, and therefore may be subject to different minimum rates of support if a local authority has implemented a policy to differentiate its rates based on the parent’s immigration status.

Taking account of these considerations, although local authorities may pay a lower level of support to families affected by Schedule 3 in line with R (BCD) v Birmingham Children’s Trust, paying all families at a ‘welfare standard’ may be the most practical way to ensure that the long-term welfare needs of all children receiving section 17 support are adequately met.

Ultimately, payments for families that are subject to schedule 3 must not be directly aligned with asylum support rates or be incompatible with section 17 duties, and an individual child’s assessed needs must be adequately met in all cases.

8.3 Setting minimum rates

A subsistence policy must allow for flexibility to ensure the needs of an individual child are met but a local authority can set rates specifying minimum levels of support, which can be used as a starting point to establish the amount a family will require in order to meet a child’s assessed needs.

Where a local authority decides to include minimum rates in its policy, it can refer to statutory rates of support and other sources of information to help determine its own rates. Any benchmarking must be referenced and resulting decisions explained in the policy.

Rates could be set on a per-person basis (following the asylum support model) or according to household size (in line with universal credit payments).

As understanding the basic cost of living in a particular area can be a complex exercise, obtaining feedback or input from people receiving support will be key to informing how the policy matches up to their experience of living with the current rates. It may also be useful to find out how other authorities in the area have approached setting minimum rates in order to share learning and ensure fairness.

Rates must also account for utility and council tax payments, where these are not paid directly to a landlord or council tax service. Also, any gaps in wider assistance that is usually available to low-income households may need to be met.

When considering a minimum level, it is worth noting that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that standard levels of universal credit do not sufficiently allow for people to meet their essential living needs.

8.3.1 Asylum support

Home Office asylum support is the absolute minimum level of support that can be paid to any family under section 17 and is solely intended to cover essential living needs.

Asylum support is paid at £49.18 per week per person in the household.

Additional top-up payments are made for:

• Pregnant mother – £5.25
• Baby under 1 – £9.50
• Child aged 1-3 – £5.23

A one-off maternity payment of £300 will also be made to a pregnant woman whose baby is due in 11 weeks or less, or if their baby is under 6 months old.

In certain cases, a person receiving section 95 asylum support can apply for additional support from the Home Office. For example, a person may be granted extra payments to cover regular essential travel costs, such as a parent taking their child to school.

Any policy that directly aligns its minimum support rates with asylum support and does not include any additional amounts is likely to be unlawful following R(BCD) v Birmingham Children’s Trust. Additionally, closely aligning minimum subsistence rates with asylum support rates will be administratively burdensome. Payments will need to be reviewed and amended whenever the Home Office changes asylum support rates, however minimal the increase (or decrease) may be. Changes to asylum support rates are made by amendments to the Asylum Support Regulations 2000.

As any changes to the amounts paid are not always immediately updated on gov.uk, a local authority will need to refer to the amended regulations for the current rates.

More information about asylum support can be found on the NRPF Network website.

8.3.2 Benefit rates

Calculating the amount that a family would receive in benefit payments is complicated as many different variables can apply. It will also be necessary to account for any differences between what is covered by section 17 support and what is covered by universal credit. It may therefore be helpful to get advice from a welfare rights specialist to assist with such calculations. The current universal credit standard rates and additional rates paid for children are set out on gov.uk.

Factors that may need to be considered in a calculation include:

• The benefit cap
• Any additional costs that the local authority is meeting, such as paying utilities directly to a landlord
• How much the family would also receive in child benefit
• How much an adult with disabilities would receive if they potentially meet the requirements for a personal independence payment

Where costs, such as utilities, are covered separately by the local authority, it may be necessary to consider how to avoid a situation where families receiving section 17 support are financially better off than they would be when they transition to benefits after obtaining leave to remain.

8.3.3 Other income thresholds

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has produced two reports that may be useful when setting minimum subsistence rates:

• Destitution in the UK – Income Thresholds for October 2022, outlines the level of income needed for different household types to prevent them living in destitution
• A Minimum Income Standard for the UK in 2023 shows what households need to spend to reach an acceptable standard of living

8.3.4 Utilities and council tax

The local authority will need to cover the costs of utilities (energy and water) and council tax as part of the support package. When payments are not made directly to a landlord or the council tax service, then these costs must be met in addition to the standard subsistence rates.

There are different ways in which the costs of utilities could be met and may depend on whether the accommodation has a pre-payment meter:

• Payments, which may be capped, are made on presentation of a monthly or quarterly bill
• A regular allowance is added to the minimum subsistence rate, which the family is expected to use to meet utility costs

Rates or caps for utility payments can be established from researching average rates paid by providers and using Ofgem’s information about average energy consumption by household type. These rates may need to be regularly reviewed if there are rapid changes to energy costs. It may also be necessary to use some discretion for families that might have a higher-than-average use of energy, such as due to a child’s health needs.

Section 17 support will need to cover the costs of council tax, either directly with the landlord or council tax service. People with no recourse to public funds are liable for council tax and any discounts should be applied to them in the usual way. For example, a family with one adult in the household will qualify for a 25% reduction and will need to be advised to apply for this. For more information about council tax, see the NRPF Network website.

8.4 Supporting additional family members

Some families requesting section 17 support may include an adult child or adult relative who does not have parental responsibility for the child under 18 within their household. In such cases the local authority will need to consider whether it will be required to provide additional financial support (and possibly larger accommodation) for the adult family member.

Section 17(3) of the Children Act allows a local authority to provide additional support where this is necessary to meet the child’s welfare needs:

Any service provided by an authority in the exercise of functions conferred on them by this section may be provided for the family of a particular child in need or for any member of his family, if it is provided with a view to safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare.

Social workers will need to make sufficient enquiries to establish the role of the adult in the family and to what extent, if any, they play in meeting the child’s needs. The results of any enquiries and resulting decision about the provision of additional support for the adult family member will need to be fully documented. (See: R (OA & Ors) v London Borough of Bexley [2020] EWHC 1107 (Admin).)

Where a local authority has concluded that it has no duty under section 17 to provide additional financial support for an adult family member, it still has the discretion to permit the family member to reside in any accommodation provided to the family and it is likely that the parent may stretch their payments to feed them. In such circumstances, families receiving subsistence payments at a rate that only covers essential living needs are likely to experience additional hardship.

8.5 Reviewing existing support rates

Where a subsistence policy sets minimum rates, it is advisable that these are reviewed at least annually, in order to ensure that they reflect any changes to living and utility costs and any case law or policy developments are properly considered. If a rationale for establishing minimum rates is set out in the current policy then the review of rates would need to adhere to this or explain why any different factors are being taken into account.

Things that will need to be considered include:

• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) basic rate of inflation
• The Office of National Statistics shopping prices comparison tool
• Any changes to other schemes of support that the rates are benchmarked against
• Feedback from families receiving section 17 support

Adjusting subsistence payments by the CPI inflation rate alone may not be a suitable measure if the prices of specific essentials, such as food and energy, have increased faster than other costs.

Working in partnership with parents and carers is a key principle in adopting a child-centred approach. Working Together to Safeguard Children states, at paragraph 18:

Practitioners involve parents, carers, families, and local communities in designing processes that affect them, including those focused on safeguarding children. They value their contributions, expertise and knowledge reflecting them in service design and continuously seek feedback from parents, carers, family networks, children, and local communities to inform service improvements.

Therefore, any feedback or complaints from families about their support will need to be taken into account when reviewing the subsistence policy. When child in need plans are reviewed, it will be necessary to ask families how they are managing with their current payments in order to assess to what extent these are meeting the child’s assessed needs.

In some instances, it may be necessary to undertake a review earlier than the date specified in the policy or a more thorough review of the entire policy. For example, a review may be needed when the courts make key findings with regards to meeting a child’s needs under section 17 or when there is a societal change that has a significant impact on living standards and costs, such as a public health emergency. Local authorities that closely align their minimum subsistence rates against Home Office asylum support rates will need to review their rates whenever the Home Office changes the amounts that it pays to people seeking asylum.

8.6 Administering payments

Local authorities use various methods of providing financial support to families, such as:

• Making payments by BACS into a bank account (if the parent has one)
• Loading payments onto a pre-paid card, which can be used to withdraw money from a cash machine and as a payment card in shops
• Cash payments
• Food vouchers and supermarket cards

Providing financial support directly into the parent’s bank account, or using a pre-paid card, is the most secure and efficient way of delivering support. These methods also provide families with autonomy and independence regarding where their funds are spent.

The use of food vouchers or supermarket cards should be limited to emergency situations where there is insufficient time to set up cash support or a payment card.

8.7 Additional support for families

A family receiving section 17 support will need to be helped to access other services that could reduce pressures on their household budgets.

The financial support provided to a family will need to take account of any services that are not available and ensure that the support provided to affected families addresses such gaps. For example, if a local authority does not provide school uniform grants to residents, it may be necessary to include in the policy a one-off annual payment to contribute to this cost for families with school-age children.

A local authority should not rely on the availability of foodbanks to meet a family’s nutritional needs. Where a family has access to a foodbank this is usually irregular and should not affect the funds they receive from the local authority.

It may also be necessary to consider providing one-off payments under section 17 as part of the support package for times when it is known that a family’s expenses are likely to increase, such as an annual winter clothing allowance. Families with no recourse to public funds that are receiving section 17 support will usually be able to access the following services:

• 15 hours/week childcare for disadvantaged 2-year-old children
• 15 hours/week childcare for 3 and 4-year-old children
• Free school meals
• Healthy start scheme (if their child is British)
• Free prescriptions, dental treatment and optical services
• School uniform grants (if their local authority provides this)
• Discounted or free travel for people with disabilities, elderly people and children (depending on what schemes are available locally)

More information about the full eligibility criteria for the services listed in this section can be found on the NRPF Network website.

9.  Pathways off support

This chapter provides information for practitioners to assist families with no recourse to public funds to identify and achieve an appropriate pathway off support when they are supported under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

9.1 Introduction

When a family is provided with accommodation and financial support under section 17 of the Children Act, it will be necessary to help the family to identify an appropriate pathway off support and assist them to achieve this.

Proactively assisting families in this way will promote the well-being of children, empower parents, and ultimately can help the family to achieve a long-term solution to their situation of destitution.

For the majority of families, section 17 support will end following a grant of leave to remain which allows them to access benefits and homelessness assistance: our data shows that in 2023-24, 70% of families that had their section 17 support ended were granted leave to remain.

Our data also shows that families were provided with accommodation and financial support under section 17 for an average period of just over 1.5 years, so it is important for local authorities to ensure that:

• Families are able to access good quality immigration advice as early as possible
• Staff can signpost families to immigration information and specialist legal advice
• Staff work in partnership with the Home Office using NRPF Connect to request that the Home Office expedites outstanding immigration applications

When a family is encountered before they need accommodation and financial support, signposting them to immigration advice and general immigration information might mean the family can take early action and resolve their immigration situation before they become homeless or reach crisis point. For more information about early intervention, see section 4.1.

9.2 Immigration advice

Access to good quality immigration advice is essential to enable families to make the right application to the Home Office and to present their case as effectively as possible. It is important that families are only signposted to regulated immigration advisers. However, accessing good-quality free legal advice is very challenging for families, particularly in certain parts of England and Wales, as there is no legal aid for most immigration matters.

In some cases, the local authority will need to consider commissioning immigration advice. There will be a clear cost-benefit in doing so where access to good-quality and free immigration advice would otherwise be non-existent or limited, so that families can establish whether they have grounds to apply for leave to remain and, if so, be assisted with making an application.

It is also important that local authority staff are aware of the difference between providing general information and giving immigration advice. However, it will still be necessary to engage with a family’s immigration matter proactively in order to signpost families to information and legal advice, as required.

9.2.1 Who can provide immigration advice

‘Immigration advice’ is advice that relates to an individual and is given in connection with a relevant immigration matter. ‘Immigration services’ means making representations on behalf of a particular individual in civil proceedings before a court, tribunal or immigration judge, or in correspondence with a Minister of the Crown or a government department.

Immigration advice and services can only be provided directly to individuals by properly regulated legal practitioners. It is a criminal offence for a person to provide immigration advice or immigration services to an individual when they are not permitted to do so.

The following people can provide immigration advice:

• An immigration adviser who is registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) or is exempt from registration
• A solicitor who is registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (England and Wales), Law Society of Scotland or Law Society of Northern Ireland
• A barrister who is regulated by the Bar Standards Board (England and Wales), Faculty of Advocates (Scotland), or the Bar Council of Northern Ireland

OISC advisers will be registered to give advice at a particular level of competency in asylum or immigration law. They must not provide advice that falls under a higher competency level than that which they are registered at. For example, human rights applications and immigration applications made by people who have overstayed their visa must be made by a level 2 or 3 adviser. Therefore, families supported under section 17, who are likely to be making applications on family or private life grounds or who do not have lawful status, will need to be signposted to a level 2 adviser. For full details about what type of work is permitted at each level, see the Guidance on Competence 2021 (OISC, July 2021).

9.2.2 Signposting to an immigration adviser

It will be necessary to establish a list of local immigration advisers that can be provided to a person who is receiving support.

In England and Wales, legal aid is only available for a very limited number of immigration (non-asylum) matters, although in some cases, a family may be able to apply for exceptional case funding. In some parts of England there are no legal aid providers. For more information about exceptional case funding, see the NRPF Network website.

Law centres and voluntary sector organisations with OISC-registered advisers may be able to provide free advice for certain groups or for particular types of cases. Such services are usually heavily over-subscribed and case workers can often spend significant amounts of time helping families to unsuccessfully access different providers.

For more information about how to find local immigration advisers, see the NRPF Network website.

Where the availability of free and good quality immigration advice is limited, the local authority may need to commission advice. There are various ways in which this can be done, such as through providing a grant to a voluntary and community sector organistion or paying an adviser on a case-by-case basis. Different models of funding immigration advice used by local authorities across the UK are set out the report, ‘It’s a No-brainer’: Local Authority Funding for Immigration Legal Advice in the UK (Justice Together, May 2023).

9.2.3 What you can do if you are not an OISC adviser

Providing general information and signposting a person to a legal representative is not classed as providing immigration advice.

Things that local authority staff can do in order to assist families to progress their immigration matters include:

• Identify when a family may require legal advice about their immigration matter
• Signpost families to a regulated immigration adviser
• Signposting families to sources of general information, such as gov.uk or the NRPF Network website
• Help a family to obtain documents to support their immigration application, as advised by their immigration adviser
• Provide a letter to confirm details of the local authority’s involvement with the family, including whether accommodation and/or financial support is being provided

Families should be advised to inform their legal representative that they are receiving local authority support and what information has been shared with the Home Office. This will enable the legal representative to advise their client appropriately and update any pending applications, where this is necessary.

When an immigration claim has been submitted by a family, the local authority will need to proactively chase this up with the Home Office. Local authorities that subscribe to NRPF Connect can use the system to obtain immigration status information, chase up outstanding applications, and request that applications are treated with priority when a person is provided with accommodation and financial support.

9.3 Immigration routes

UK immigration rules are complex and can regularly be amended by government. A person’s current immigration status, their individual circumstances, and their residence history will usually determine what type of application they can make. This section includes information about possible options that might be available to some families supported under section 17, based on the parent’s current immigration status. In all cases, families will need to be signposted to an immigration adviser so that they can receive advice about any options available to them and for assistance with submitting an application.

9.3.1 Leave to remain with NRPF

A person who has leave to remain with NRPF may be able to gain access to public funds (benefits and local authority housing assistance) by making a change of conditions application to request that the NRPF condition is lifted when they have leave to remain on one of the following routes:

• Parent or partner on the family life route
• Private life route
• Hong Kong BN(O) route

In exceptional circumstances, the Home Office will also consider lifting the NRPF condition for people with other types of visas, such as student or work visa holders. However, a person with a student or work visa will usually be expected to leave the UK if they are unable to support themselves and their families. Such an application will only be successful in exceptional circumstances and for some families there will be risks relating to their immigration status by making an application. Therefore, even though it might appear that this route is available to a family supported under section 17, they could receive legal advice that it is not in their best interests to apply for it.

For more information about the change of conditions application, see the NRPF Network website.

When a Hong Kong BN(O) visa holder makes a change of conditions application, the local authority can apply for funding of up to £2,720 per household to contribute to the costs of providing any advice or destitution support. More information about the Destitution Fund is available on gov.uk.

There will be some instances where parents who have leave to remain with NRPF are unable to apply for change of conditions or switch to other immigration routes that would give them access to public funds. Even where parents are working, if they do not have access to benefits they are unlikely to have sufficient income to be able to afford suitable accommodation and to meet the costs of their child’s basic needs.

In such cases, there are no easy solutions for the families concerned and section 17 support may need to be provided on a long-term basis. The local authority would need to ensure it has done as much as possible to help the parent to access relevant advice and boost their income, such as by accessing free school meals, childcare, and employment advice. Recording the family’s details on NRPF Connect provides evidence the local authority’s involvement and any costs incurred supporting such families, which the NRPF Network will raise with government to press for funding and policy change.

9.3.2 Victims of domestic abuse

When a parent has separated from a partner due to domestic abuse they will need to get legal advice from an immigration adviser to find out what their options are. This is particularly important if they have (or last had) leave as the dependant of their partner, such as a spouse visa or student dependant.

Some people with a partner visa who have separated from their partner due to domestic abuse may be able to apply for the Migrant Victim of Domestic Abuse Concession (MVDAC), which gives them three months leave to remain with access to public funds (benefits and local authority housing assistance) whilst they either make a new application for leave to remain or leave the UK.

Some groups that can apply for the concession will not be eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) on the basis that they are a victim of domestic abuse, so may not have an onward immigration route open to them. Therefore, even though the MVDAC may be available to a family supported under section 17, they could receive legal advice that it is not in their best interests to apply for it.

For more information about who can apply for a MVDAC and potential difficulties that people with certain types of visas will need to be aware of, see the NRPF Network website.

9.3.3 Pre-settled status

A person with pre-settled status will have been granted five years’ leave to remain and can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme for settled status after they have completed five years’ continuous residence in the UK. They do not need to have held pre-settled status for the five-year period.

When a person obtains settled status, they will have indefinite leave to remain and full entitlement to benefits and local authority homelessness assistance. Therefore, it will be necessary to establish when a parent with pre-settled status will be able to apply for settled status and help them to access immigration advice if it appears that they may qualify soon. For more information about applying for settled status, see the NRPF Network website.

The Home Office has automatically extended the pre-settled status expiry date by five years in order to protect a person’s lawful status, in case they do not apply for settled status before their initial leave expires.

When a parent is still some time away from being able to apply for settled status, they will usually need to continue to be supported under section 17 until they are able to qualify for universal credit. For EEA nationals with pre-settled status, entering employment or self-employment may be a route to qualifying for benefits, but for family members of EEA nationals, their entitlement to benefits will be more complex.

Depending on their circumstances, a parent with pre-settled status may need to be:

• Signposted to a welfare rights/benefits adviser for advice about whether they may qualify for universal credit and other benefits
• Assisted to access ESOL courses, training, or employment services where appropriate
• Advised and assisted to access free childcare hours, where appropriate
• Signposted to an immigration adviser when they are able to apply for settled status or if there are any complexities regarding their future entitlement to settled status, such as lengthy absences from the UK

9.3.4 Families without lawful status

When a parent has no lawful status in the UK, they will be subject to schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. Schedule 3 places a bar on the provision of accommodation and financial support under section 17 to a family where the family can return to their country of origin to avoid destitution in the UK. This bar will be lifted when there is a legal barrier or practical obstacle preventing a family from returning to their country of origin. In addition to the child in need assessment, the local authority will undertake a human rights assessment in order to establish whether there are any barriers to return, such as a pending immigration application or appeal. For more information about human rights assessments, see section 4.3.

Providing families with an opportunity to access immigration advice will be essential to enable the local authority to correctly implement schedule 3 and to establish the family’s pathway off support. For the majority, this will be achieved by being granted leave to remain. In 2023-24, 70% of families transitioned off local authority support following a grant of leave to remain by the Home Office, whereas only 5% of families left the UK. For a small number of families who make unsuccessful immigration claims, their situation of destitution in the UK may only be resolved by returning to their country of origin where they are able to access employment and other services.

An immigration adviser will identify what options a family may have and, when an application is pursued, assist them to make their claim.

The following immigration options are useful to be aware of:

• Parents that have lived in the UK for 20 years or longer, or have a British child or a child that has lived in the UK for 7 years, may be able to make an application for leave to remain under the Immigration Rules. However, parents with different circumstances might still be able to make an application on human rights grounds under the family or private life rules
• When a family need to make an application for leave to remain under the family or private life rules, they may be able to obtain a fee waiver if they cannot afford to pay the application fee
• A child who was born in the UK and has lived here for 10 years will be entitled to register as a British citizen – a fee waiver is available for families that cannot afford the fee
• When a person states that they believe they would be at risk of persecution or ill treatment in their country of origin, they would need to be signposted to an immigration adviser to find out whether they can claim asylum. Legal aid is available for asylum cases
• When a person expresses a wish to return to their country of origin, they can be signposted to information about the Home Office voluntary returns service and may also wish to get immigration advice to find out what the long-term implications of taking up voluntary return would be

More information about fee waivers, child registration applications and Home Office voluntary return is available on the NRPF Network website.

When a family’s application for leave to remain (and any subsequent appeals) has not been successful or a family has been advised by an immigration adviser that they do not have grounds for any further applications, the local authority will need to review its human rights assessment. For more information about supporting a family to return, see section 10.7.

10.  Withdrawing support

This chapter sets out when the duty to provide accommodation and financial support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 can end and what steps will need to be taken to support a transition to alternative support or a return.

10.1 When section 17 duties end

Accommodation and financial support provided under section 17 of the Children Act will need to continue until there is a change of circumstances that means that parent is able to obtain suitable accommodation and can afford to meet the child’s basic needs. In some instances, a reassessment of needs may have identified that alternative sources of support are available to the family. However, for the majority of families, section 17 support is usually withdrawn when the family are in receipt of benefits and local authority homelessness assistance following a grant of leave to remain with access to public funds. For families that claim asylum, section 17 support will need to be withdrawn when Home Office asylum support is in place.

At the end of March 2024, families were provided with accommodation and financial support under section 17 for an average period of just over 1.5 years. Although, such a long period can often be attributed to waiting for a Home Office decision on an immigration claim, section 17 support often remains ongoing for several weeks after a family has been granted leave to remain or has claimed asylum due to delays transferring to alternative support.

Therefore, families will need to be proactively assisted to transfer to alternative support in order to minimise any disruption for the child and to ensure that support is accessed as quickly as possible.

The duty to provide accommodation and financial support under section 17 can also end for other reasons, such as when the youngest child in a household turns 18.

In some instances, the local authority will also be required to withdraw section 17 support when a parent has no lawful status and the local authority has concluded, in a human rights assessment, that there are no legal or practical barriers preventing the family from returning to their country of origin to avoid destitution in the UK.

When it becomes clear that the local authority will no longer have a duty to provide a family with accommodation and financial support under section 17, a reasonable notice period (which may need to be extended) must be provided. Depending on the family’s circumstances, it will also be necessary to undertake one, or a combination, of the following actions:

• Make a referral to a housing authority to comply with the duty to refer
• Assist the parent to make a claim for benefits and obtain a National Insurance number (if required)
• Assist the parent to open a bank account
• Help a family to apply for Home Office asylum support
• Assist the family to return to their country of origin
• Take steps to help a family access alternative support when the child is approaching 18
• Provide a family with signposting information to help avoid future re-presentations for section 17 support

When a local authority has been involved with a family due to additional child in need or safeguarding issues, it will need to follow usual notification procedures if the family moves into another area following the withdrawal of accommodation and financial support under section 17.

10.2 Notice periods

When section 17 support is to be withdrawn, the family will need to be provided with a reasonable notice period and confirmation in writing that their support will end, setting out the full reasons for this. This can be used by a housing authority or the Home Office as evidence that the family will become homeless.

In practice, as the child will remain a ‘child in need’ until the family are in receipt of alternative support, the initial notice period may not reflect the actual time that it will take for new support to be put in place, as accessing DWP benefits, homelessness assistance or Home Office asylum support can take several weeks. In such cases, the family would need to be reassured that their accommodation and financial support will not be withdrawn until the transfer to alternative support is in place, and the notice period may need to be periodically reviewed and extended.

10.3 Referrals to a housing authority

A successful and timely transfer from section 17 support to temporary accommodation provided under part VII of the Housing Act 1996 will require cooperation between children’s social care and the relevant housing authority. This may be more challenging to achieve in two-tier authority areas, or when a family has been placed in section 17 accommodation out of area. Children’s social care staff must also comply with the duty to refer.

Section 27 of the Children Act 1989 requires housing authorities to co-operate, where requested to do so, in order to carry out an authority’s children’s social care functions, provided that this is compatible with their own duties and obligations and does not interfere with the performance of their own functions. The statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children confirms that this applies to departments within an authority, at paragraph 139.

Section 11 of the Children Act 2004 requires housing authorities to discharge their functions with regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

In some cases, a housing authority may have an agreement with children’s social care that a family can remain in the same temporary accommodation after section 17 support has ended. This is only likely to be possible if section 17 accommodation was sourced in partnership with the housing authority in the first instance. For more information about different ways of arranging temporary accommodation, see section 7.7.

10.3.1 Duty to refer

Social workers and other staff in children’s social care, including early help, must refer a family that is threatened with homelessness within 56 days to a housing authority of the family’s choice.

The family will need to provide consent and may need to be given some information about a housing authority’s local connection requirements to help inform their decision. Local connection requirements are usually set out on a local authority’s website. A local authority should not refuse a homelessness application if the family does not appear to have a local connection, although they might be transferred to a different authority where they do have a local connection.

It will be necessary to proactively refer a family to a housing authority rather than signposting the family to a website. Some housing authorities have online forms that professionals can complete to refer a family.

For more information, see the Guide to the Duty to Refer (MHCLG, September 2018) and paragraphs 256 to 261 of Working Together to Safeguard Children.

10.4 Accessing DWP benefits

Most families that are transferring from section 17 support to DWP benefits will claim universal credit.

Families may need to be referred to a welfare rights service for advice about their benefit entitlement and assistance with making a claim. Advice from a welfare rights adviser will usually be necessary when a parent has pre-settled status, is entitled to disability benefits, or is refused a benefit. Ensuring that a person access welfare rights advice may reduce the risk that a benefits claim is refused and the need for section 17 support to continue whilst an appeal is being considered. For information to help find a local welfare rights adviser, see the NRPF Network website.

10.4.1 Claiming universal credit

Most families will be entitled to claim universal credit after they are granted leave to remain with access to public funds.

Families will usually receive their first payment of universal credit around five weeks after the initial benefit claim was made. Therefore, section 17 subsistence payments will need to continue until alternative support is put in place and benefits are paid to the family.

It is possible to make a claim for universal credit without a National Insurance number. Guidance for benefits assessors in Touchbase Edition 137 (Department of Work and Pensions, March 2020) states:

Claimants without a National Insurance number should not delay their Universal Credit application to obtain one. Their claim to Universal Credit will start the National Insurance (NI) number application process.

Once the conditions of entitlement to Universal Credit are established, an application for a NI number will be prioritised by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

This means eligibility can be established and also makes it possible to pay an advance of Universal Credit.

Parents with pre-settled status who qualify for universal credit on the basis of exercising a right to reside as an EEA worker or self-employed person will need to meet a minimum earnings threshold for at least three months (the level at which National Insurance contributions start to be paid). If they cannot meet the minimum earnings threshold they must show that their work is ‘genuine and effective’. For more information about accessing benefits with pre-settled status, see the NRPF Network website.

10.5 Opening a bank account

A parent may need to open a current or basic bank account in order to receive benefit payments or to receive wages from an employer. An account could be provided by a bank, building society or credit union and must allow the holder to make or receive automated payments if they are claiming benefits.

The local authority may be able to provide a person with proof of address, such as a letter on headed paper confirming this that is dated within the last three months, or help the parent to produce an appropriate document, such as a utility or council tax bill.

As banks are required to check the immigration status of a person opening their account, it may also be necessary to help the parent prepare their relevant identity and status documents or to help them understand how to use ‘view and prove’ on gov.uk if they have a digital status.

For more information, see the Moneyhelper guide about choosing a bank for benefit payments.

The Refugee Council has produced an information leaflet about banking for people granted refugee status (pdf), which may also be useful for people with other types of immigration status.

10.6 Accessing Home Office asylum support

When a family claims asylum they will need to apply for accommodation and financial support from the Home Office under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.

In some cases, the Home Office can provide a family with emergency support under section 98 of the Immigration and Asylum Act, which will be full-board hotel or hostel accommodation. The local authority will need to continue to accommodate an asylum-seeking family under section 17 until the family is provided with Home Office asylum support, which in practice can take several weeks.

Local authorities using NRPF Connect can raise a query to chase up the progress of an asylum support application. For more information about supporting asylum-seeking families, see section 4.4.

10.7 Assistance with return

When Schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 applies to a family because the parent is without lawful status in the UK, the local authority may conclude in its human rights assessment that there are no legal or practical barriers preventing the family from avoiding destitution in the UK by returning to their country of origin. Such a decision is likely to be made after a parent’s application for leave to remain (and any subsequent appeals) has not been successful, or they have been advised by an immigration adviser that they do not have grounds to make any further immigration claims.

A family will need to be offered support to return when a local authority concludes, following a human rights assessment, that the family can avoid a human rights breach arising from their destitution in the UK by returning to their country of origin where they can access employment and services. For more information about human rights assessments, see section 4.3.

As the family will not be able to afford to make their own travel arrangements, a return can be funded and arranged by the Home Office through the voluntary returns scheme or by the local authority.

Families may enter the Home Office Family Returns Process when they have become appeal rights exhausted following an unsuccessful immigration claim or have indicated that they wish to leave the UK voluntarily. As soon as the local authority is aware that support is likely to be withdrawn on the basis that the family can return to the parent’s country of origin, the local authority can raise a query on NRPF Connect to find out whether the family is being assisted under the Family Returns Process. The ‘family returns process guidance’ (pdf) (Home Office, November 2023) sets out what engagement with the family will take place.

It will normally be appropriate for the local authority to provide accommodation and financial support to the family whilst return is being arranged. In the case of R (O) v London Borough of Lambeth (2016), the Judge found that the local authority had made ‘sensible, humane and appropriate undertakings’ by agreeing that interim accommodation would be provided for a reasonable period pending the return if the parent signs a formal undertaking in which she accepts that she and her child can be returned to Nigeria, and takes steps to co-operate with the local authority in arranging a return. The local authority will also need to consider whether to include a financial package (as the Home Office does for families) and any additional support that can be put in place, which may have been identified in the child in need assessment. A supported return offer can help the family reconnect with services, secure accommodation, and access employment or start a business in their country of origin.

10.8 Children approaching 18

Section 17 duties will end when there are no longer any children under 18 in the household, but a family could face homelessness if their immigration matter has not been resolved by this time. If the youngest child in a supported household is 16 or 17 years old then it will be necessary to plan for this scenario and take active steps several months before the child turns 18 to ensure that the local authority does as much as it can in advance to help the family avoid homelessness when section 17 duties end.

An appropriate long-term pathway out of destitution must be identified when the family are initially provided with section 17 support. It will be necessary to help the family to achieve this, as well as monitoring the family’s progress, such as by signposting to immigration advice and using NRPF Connect to regularly chase up an outstanding immigration claim. It is important to make sure that the child’s immigration situation is considered as well as their parent’s. For example, the child may be entitled to register as a British citizen if they were born in the UK and have lived here for at least 10 years. For more information about identifying appropriate pathways off support, see chapter 9.

If the child is approaching 18 and the family’s immigration matter has not been resolved, then appropriate referrals will need to be made to establish an onward support route. For example:

• When a family member appears to have care and support needs arising from, or related to, a physical or mental impairment or illness, they will need to be referred to adult social care for a needs assessment, with a view to providing accommodation and financial support to meet eligible care and support needs
• A British citizen will be able to claim benefits and make a homelessness application but will need to be signposted to a welfare rights or housing adviser for advice about their parent’s entitlement if the family intends to stay together
• The family or young person would need to be aware of how to access immigration advice and resolve their immigration issue after support has ended

10.9 Signposting to prevent future homelessness

After section 17 support ends, it is good practice to provide a family with signposting information to help minimise the risk that they might experience homelessness or destitution as a result of their immigration status in future.

For example, families supported under section 17 are often granted leave to remain for a period of 30 months on a 10-year settlement route with access to public funds. They will need to make an application to renew their leave before their current visa expires in order to preserve their lawful status and entitlements whilst their new application is being decided by the Home Office. If they fail to apply in time and overstay, they will lose access to benefits and the right to work.

Families granted leave to remain could be signposted to information about:

• Immigration application fees, which usually increase every April (and sometimes at other times of the year) and fee waivers
• Change of conditions application, in case they are subsequently granted leave to remain with a NRPF condition
• Immigration advisers in their local area, including any free advice providers
• Benefit and housing advisers
• Emergency support, such as foodbanks, should they require one-off assistance
• How to access services such as childcare and free school meals
• The ‘support for migrant families’ web tool to help them establish what their entitlements are

For more information, see the rights and entitlements section of the NRPF Network website. For more information about signposting to prevent homelessness, see section 4.1.3.

11.  Wales

This chapter sets out the legislation that local authorities in Wales must apply when assessing and meeting the needs of children living within families with no recourse to public funds who require accommodation and financial support.

This chapter must be read in conjunction with earlier chapters of the guidance, which specify the equivalent social care legislation in England and how the courts have interpreted this applies to families with no recourse to public funds. Some of the principles that have been established by the courts in England may be applicable when implementing social care law in Wales. However, it will be necessary to consult the local authority’s legal services for further guidance about the relevance of any English case law in interpreting Welsh legislation.

As immigration legislation applies across the UK, practitioners in Wales can also refer to information in previous chapters about the practical delivery of support to inform their practice.

Local authorities will also need to refer to the No Recourse to Public Funds Guidance‘ (Welsh Government, November 2022) for full information about delivering support to families with no recourse to public funds in Wales.

11.1 Public funds

In Wales, a person who is subject to a ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition will be prohibited from accessing:

• Most benefits – as listed on the NRPF Network website
• A local authority allocation of social housing under part VI of the Housing Act 1996 & Part II of the Housing Act 1995

Homelessness assistance under the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 is not listed as a ‘public fund’ for immigration purposes, but a person who is subject to a NRPF condition will not be eligible for this. For more information about homelessness eligibility rules, see the Allocation of Accommodation and Homelessness: Guidance for Local Authorities‘ (Welsh Government, November 2023).

Social care delivered by a local authority is not a ‘public fund’ for immigration purposes and therefore can be provided to a child or their parent who has no recourse to public funds.

The Discretionary Assistance Fund is not a ‘public fund’ for immigration purposes and Emergency Assistance Payments are available to people with no recourse to public funds when they are experiencing extreme financial hardship.

For more information about ‘public funds’ and who has no recourse to public funds see chapter 3.

11.2 Children’s social care support for families with NRPF

The Welsh Government directs local authorities to adopt a ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ approach in the ‘No recourse to public funds guidance’:

We expect local authorities to adopt an approach of providing as much support as they can, rather than concentrating on what they cannot offer.

It is essential that local authorities treat everyone seeking support with compassion and dignity, regardless of their immigration status.

Seeing the person and their needs before their immigration status is a fundamental aspect of the Nation of Sanctuary approach. It is crucial that local authority officers seek to identify what they can do to help someone in need, even if more common methods of help are unavailable because of the NRPF condition.

When a family with no recourse to public funds is homeless, at risk of homelessness, or does not have sufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs, the local authority must consider whether accommodation and financial support (alongside any other assistance to meet the child’s needs) can be provided under section 37 of the Social Services and Well-being Wales Act 2014.

Under section 37, local authorities have a duty to meet the care and support needs of a child:

(1) A local authority must meet a child’s needs for care and support if it is satisfied that conditions 1 and 2, and any conditions specified in regulations, are met (but see subsections (5) and (6)).
(2) Condition 1 is that the child is within the local authority’s area.
(3) Condition 2 is that—
(a) the needs meet the eligibility criteria, or
(b) the local authority considers it necessary to meet the needs in order to protect the child from—
(i) abuse or neglect or a risk of abuse or neglect, or
(ii) other harm or a risk of such harm.

Section 4(1) of the Care and Support (Eligibility) (Wales) Regulations 2015 sets out the eligibility criteria referred to in section 37(3)(a).

The full circumstances of the child must be considered when assessing whether they can be provided with services. It is not necessary for a child to have a need arising from physical or mental ill-health, or a disability, in order to meet the eligibility criteria. A child will meet the eligibility criteria when there is an unmet need that adversely affects their development.

For example, a child within a no recourse to public funds family could meet the eligibility criteria set out at regulation 4(1) on the basis that the parent’s inability to obtain adequate accommodation or meet the costs of their child’s basic needs:

1. Is likely to have an adverse effect on the child’s development if unmet,
2. Means that the child is unable to achieve one or more of the specified outcomes, including developmental goals,
3. Means that neither the child or their parents are able to meet the child’s accommodation and basic needs alone or with any other support available to them, and
4. Means that the child is unlikely to achieve one or more of the personal outcomes without the provision of care and support (specifically accommodation and financial support) by the local authority

11.3 Assessing need

Under section 21(1) of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act, the local authority has a duty to assess the needs of any child who is ordinarily resident or is within the authority’s area, where it appears that the child may have needs for care and support in addition to, or instead of, the care and support provided by the child’s family.

In England, the courts have interpreted ‘within the authority’s area’ (for the purpose of section 17 of the Children Act 1989) to mean when a child is physically present in the area. For more information about English case law relating to the duty to assess, see chapter 5.

The duty to assess need applies regardless of the local authority’s view of the level of the child’s needs for care and support, or the level of the financial resources of the child or any person with parental responsibility for the child – section 21(3).

A needs assessment must be undertaken in line with Assessing Care and Support Needs of Individuals: Code of Practice‘ (Welsh Government, December 2015). Both the child and anyone with parental responsibility for the child must be involved in the assessment.

For children within no recourse to public funds households, a needs assessment must consider how the parent’s inability to obtain adequate accommodation or meet the costs of their child’s basic needs impacts upon the child’s personal development and well-being, alongside any other factors affecting the child.

The local authority must then determine whether the child’s needs meet the eligibility criteria. An eligibility assessment must be undertaken in line with Part 4 of the Code of Practice (Meeting Needs)‘ (Welsh Government, October 2016).

The duty to meet a child’s care and support needs will not apply if the local authority is satisfied that those needs are being met by the child’s family. (Section 37(5) of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act.)

Therefore, it will be necessary to explore what funds and resources are available to the parent to obtain suitable housing and/or meet their child’s basic needs, taking into account the effect of any immigration restrictions that apply to the parent.

For more information about immigration restrictions and establishing a parent’s financial circumstances within a needs assessment, see chapter 6.

11.4 Interim support

Under section 38(3) of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act, the local authority has a power to meet a child’s needs before the needs assessment has been completed. Therefore, interim accommodation and financial support can be provided to a family whilst the needs assessment is being undertaken.

In the ‘No recourse to public funds guidance’,the Welsh Government recommends that:

Local authorities ensure interim social services support is made available where the local authority believes that support needs exist.

For more information about providing interim support, see section 4.2.

11.5 Meeting needs

When a local authority finds that a child meets the eligibility criteria because the parent’s inability to obtain suitable accommodation or to meet the costs of the child’s basic needs has a detrimental impact on the health or development of a child, then accommodation and/or financial support will need to be provided to the family. Accommodation and financial support can also be provided when this is necessary to prevent children within the local authority’s area from suffering harm or neglect.

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act allows the local authority to provide accommodation and financial support to a family as a whole:

• Section 6(4) states that the local authority ‘must have regard to the importance of promoting the upbringing of the child by the child’s family, in so far as doing so is consistent with promoting the well-being of the child’
• Section 34(1)(c) allows the local authority to meet a child’s needs under section 37 by providing services to a person other than the child with needs for care and support.
• Taking child into care, instead of supporting entire family when it is consistent with promoting the child’s well-being to do so, would be inconsistent with section 39 (duty to maintain family contact)

The Welsh government reaffirms this in the ‘No recourse to public funds guidance’:

[When there are fewer avenues of support for a child’s parent] It is not in the best interests of the child to separate families in this way and local authorities should utilise other services support to ensure the family unit can be maintained.

Section 32(2)(a) provides a local authority with a broad scope in terms of how it can meet a child’s needs and section 34 provides examples of how needs can be met.

Section 34 confirms that accommodation of any type can be provided to meet a child’s needs and that an authority can provide accommodation directly, arrange for its provision by a third party, or make payments to the family to secure accommodation.

Section 34 also allows for financial payments to be made to a family in order to meet a child’s needs.

With regards to the amount of financial support that the local authority should provide to a family, the Welsh Government recommends that:

Local authorities review their policies for providing financial support and commit to ensuring no one supported under social services will receive less than [Home Office asylum support as a] minimum (adjusted as asylum support rates change).

This recommendation is in line with the position in England, where the courts have found that the absolute minimum level of support that a local authority should provide to a family with no recourse to public funds must not fall below the level of Home Office asylum support (plus the cost of utilities and council tax).

For more information about providing accommodation and financial support to meet a child’s needs, see chapter 8 (accommodation) and chapter 9 (subsistence).

11.6 Human rights assessments

When a parent has no lawful status in the UK, they will be subject to schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. Schedule 3 places a bar on the provision of accommodation and financial support under section 37 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 to a family, where the family can return to their country of origin to avoid destitution in the UK. This bar will be lifted when there is a legal barrier or practical obstacle preventing a family from returning to their country of origin. When schedule 3 applies, the local authority will need to undertake a human rights assessment in order to establish whether there are any barriers to return, such as a pending immigration application or appeal.

For more information about schedule 3 and human rights assessments, see section 4.3. References in section 4.3 to ‘section 17 of the Children Act 1989’ can be replaced by ‘section 37 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014’.

11.7 Accessing immigration advice

When support is provided to a family with no recourse to public funds, it will be necessary to signpost a family to an immigration adviser. A parent without lawful status will need to find out what their options are and will require assistance with making an application. A parent who has leave to remain that is subject to a NRPF condition will need to find out whether they can apply for a change in immigration status that allows them to access to benefits and homelessness assistance.

In Wales, legal aid is only available for asylum cases and some limited types of immigration cases.

A local authority will need to signpost families to one of the following:

• A solicitor regulated by the Law Society who practices in immigration or asylum law
• An immigration adviser registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)

The Welsh Government No Recourse to Public Funds Guidance‘ lists voluntary and community sector services in Wales that assist migrants.

For more information about helping a family to identify and achieve a pathway off support, see chapter 9.

12.  Scotland

This chapter sets out the legislation that local authorities in Scotland must apply when assessing and meeting the needs of children living within families with no recourse to public funds who require accommodation and financial support.

This chapter must be read in conjunction with earlier chapters of the guidance, which specify the equivalent social care legislation in England and how the courts have interpreted this applies to families with no recourse to public funds. Some of the principles that have been established by the courts in England may be applicable when implementing social care law in Scotland. However, it will be necessary to consult the local authority’s legal services for further guidance about the relevance of any English case law in interpreting Scottish legislation.

As immigration legislation applies across the UK, practitioners in Scotland may also find the information in previous chapters about the practical delivery of support useful to inform their practice.

Local authorities will also need to refer to the Migrants’ Rights and Entitlements Guidance (COSLA, August 2023) for more information about supporting families with no recourse to public funds in Scotland.

12.1 Public funds

In Scotland, a person who is subject to a ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition will be prohibited from accessing:

• Most benefits, including some Social Security Scotland benefits – as listed on the NRPF Network website
• Homelessness assistance under part II of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987
• A local authority allocation of social housing under part I of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987

Social care delivered by local authority is not a ‘public fund’ for immigration purposes and therefore can be provided to a child or their parent who has no recourse to public funds.

For more information about ‘public funds’ and who has no recourse to public funds see chapter 3.

12.2 Children’s social care support for families with NRPF

The Ending Destitution Together Strategy, developed by COSLA and the Scottish Government aims to improve support for people with NRPF who are living in Scotland through prevention, partnership, and personalisation. Local authorities will need to consider how they can embed the principles of the strategy within their services when providing support to families with no recourse to public funds.

When a family with no recourse to public funds is homeless, at risk of homelessness, or does not have sufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs, the local authority must consider whether accommodation and financial support (alongside any other assistance to meet the child’s needs) can be provided under section 22(1) of the Children Scotland Act 1995.

Under section 22(1), local authorities have a general duty to:

(a) safeguard and promote the welfare of children in their area who are in need; and so far as is consistent with that duty, promote the upbringing of such children by their families, by providing a range and level of services appropriate to the children’s needs.

Section 93(4)(a) defines a ‘child in need’ as a child being in need of care and attention because:

(i) he is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or to have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development unless there are provided for him, under or by virtue of this Part, services by a local authority;
(ii) his health or development is likely significantly to be impaired, or further impaired, unless such services are so provided;
(iii) he is disabled; or
(iv) he is affected adversely by the disability of any other person in his family;

When the local authority finds that the parent’s lack of access to housing and funds has a detrimental impact on the health or development of a child then the local authority will need to provide accommodation and/or financial support to the family in order to meet the child’s needs.

12.3 Assessing need

The local authority has a duty to assess the needs of a child when there is a concern that the child is in need for one of the reasons set out in section 93(4)(a) of the Children (Scotland) Act.

The general duty under section 22(1) to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child in need applies to children within the local authority’s area.

In England, the courts have interpreted ‘within the local authority’s area’ (under section 17 of the Children Act 1989) to mean that the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child in need applies when a child is physically present in the area. For more information about English case law relating to the duty to assess, see chapter 5.

A child well-being assessment must be undertaken in line with Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) National Practice Model and must assess the well-being of the child in line with the factors listed at section 96 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014.

For children within no recourse to public funds households, the child well-being assessment must consider how the parent’s inability to obtain adequate accommodation or meet the costs of their child’s basic needs impacts upon the child’s personal development and well-being, alongside any other factors affecting the child. It will therefore be necessary to explore what funds and resources are available to the parent, taking into account the effect of any immigration restrictions that apply to the parent.

For more information about immigration restrictions and establishing a parent’s financial circumstances within a needs assessment, see chapter 6.

Under section 22, the local authority has a power to meet a child’s needs before the child well-being assessment has been completed. Therefore, interim accommodation and financial support can be provided to a family whilst the needs assessment is being undertaken. For more information about providing interim support, see section 4.2.

12.4 Meeting needs

The local authority has a broad scope to meet a child’s needs by providing a range of services. When the local authority finds that the parent’s inability to obtain housing or meet the costs of their child’s basic needs has a detrimental impact on the health or development of a child then the local authority will need to provide accommodation and/or financial support to the family in order to meet the child’s needs.

The Children (Scotland) Act allows the local authority to provide accommodation and financial support to a family as a whole:

• Section 22(1) requires the local authority to promote the upbringing of a child in need (who is under 18) within their family
• Section 22(3)(a) specifies that a service may be provided for a particular child or for their family, if provided with a view to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare.
• Section 22(3)(b) gives local authorities a broad power to provide any services that are necessary to safeguard and promote a child’s welfare and specifies that this ‘may include giving assistance in kind or, in exceptional circumstances, in cash’.

In England, the courts have found that the absolute minimum level of support that a local authority should provide to a family with no recourse to public funds must not fall below the level of Home Office asylum support (plus the cost of utilities and council tax).

For more information about providing accommodation and financial support to meet a child’s needs, see chapter 8 (accommodation) and chapter 9 (subsistence).

12.5 Human rights assessments

When a parent has no lawful status in the UK, they will be subject to schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. Schedule 3 places a bar on the provision of accommodation and financial support under section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 to a family, where the family can return to their country of origin to avoid destitution in the UK. This bar will be lifted when there is a legal barrier or practical obstacle preventing a family from returning to their country of origin. When schedule 3 applies, the local authority will need to undertake a human rights assessment in order to establish whether there are any barriers to return, such as a pending immigration application or appeal.

For more information about schedule 3 and human rights assessments, see section 4.3. References in section 4.3 to ‘section 17 of the Children Act 1989’ can be replaced by ‘section 22 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995’.

12.6 Accessing immigration advice

When support is provided to a family with no recourse to public funds, it will be necessary to signpost a family to an immigration adviser.

In Scotland, legal aid is available for immigration and asylum cases.

A local authority will need to signpost families to one of the following:

• A solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Scotland who practices in immigration or asylum law
• An immigration adviser registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)

To search for a legal aid solicitor, see the Scottish Legal Aid Board website.

The COSLA Migrants’ Rights and Entitlement Guidance lists voluntary and community sector services in Scotland that assist migrants, including legal advice services.

For more information about helping a family to identify and achieve a pathway off support, see chapter 9.

13.  Northern Ireland

This chapter sets out the legislation that health and social care (HSC) trusts in Northern Ireland must apply when assessing and meeting the needs of children living within families with no recourse to public funds who require accommodation and financial support.

This chapter must be read in conjunction with earlier chapters of the guidance, which specify the equivalent social care legislation in England and how the courts have interpreted this applies to families with no recourse to public funds. Some of the principles that have been established by the courts in England may be applicable when implementing social care law in Northern Ireland. However, it will be necessary to consult the HSC trust’s legal services for further guidance about the relevance of any English case law in interpreting Northern Ireland legislation.

As immigration legislation applies across the UK, practitioners in Northern Ireland may also find the information in previous chapters about the practical delivery of support useful to inform their practice.

13.1 Public funds

In Northern Ireland, a person who is subject to a ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition will be prohibited from accessing:

• Most benefits – as listed on the NRPF Network website
• Homelessness assistance under part II of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988
• Social housing under part II of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive and Housing Rights provide more information about homelessness eligibility rules.

Social care is not a ‘public fund’ for immigration purposes and therefore can be provided to a child or their parent who has no recourse to public funds.

For more information about ‘public funds’ and who has no recourse to public funds see chapter 3.

13.2 Children’s social care support for families with NRPF

In Northern Ireland, HSC trusts, rather than local authorities, are responsible for providing accommodation and financial support to families with no recourse to public funds. NI direct lists the five HSC trusts that deliver social care across Northern Ireland.

When a family with no recourse to public funds is homeless, at risk of homelessness, or has insufficient income to meet their child’s basic needs, the HSC trust must consider whether accommodation and financial support (alongside any other assistance to meet the child’s needs) can be provided under article 18 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.

When the HSC trust finds that the parent’s inability to obtain suitable housing or meet the costs of their child’s basic needs has a detrimental impact on the health or development of a child then the trust will need to provide accommodation and/or financial support to the family in order to meet the child’s needs.

Article 18(1) places a general duty on a health and social care trusts:

(a) to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within its 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 social care appropriate to those children’s needs.

The Co-operating to Safeguard Children and Young People in Northern Ireland policy (Department of Health, August 2017) states that ‘fulfilling this duty is a key part of preventative safeguarding’.

Article 17 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order states that a child will be in need when:

(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 an 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,
and “family”, in relation to such a child, includes any person who has parental responsibility for the child and any other person with whom he has been living.

The Co-operating to Safeguard Children and Young People in Northern Ireland policy explains how Article 17 is applied in practice:

In determining whether a child or young person is in need, consideration must be given to:

a) what will happen to a child or young person’s development and health without services being provided; and
b) the likely effect the services will have on the child or young person’s standard of health and development.

The English courts have found that a child who is homeless will be a ‘child in need’, and that a child who is lacking food, clothing, or suitable accommodation will be a child in need due to the adverse impact not having access to such things is likely to have on their health or development. For more information about the interpretation of the equivalent legislation in England, which could guide practice in Northern Ireland, see section 6.2.

Additionally, accommodation and financial support can be provided when this is necessary to prevent children within the authority’s area suffering ill-treatment or neglect.

Schedule 2, paragraph 5 (1) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order states:

Every authority shall take reasonable steps, through the provision of services under Part IV, to prevent children within the authority’s area suffering ill-treatment or neglect.

13.3 Assessing need

The general duty under article 18(1) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child in need applies to children within the HSC trust’s area.

Additionally, schedule 2 states that:

1 Every local authority shall take reasonable steps to identify the extent to which there are children in need within the authority’s area.
…
3 Where it appears to an authority that a child within the authority’s area is in need, the authority may assess his needs for the purposes of this Act at the same time as any assessment of his needs…

In England, the courts have interpreted the equivalent provision (under section 17 of the Children Act 1989) to mean that the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child in need applies when a child is physically present in the area. For more information about case law in England relating to the duty to assess need, see chapter 5.

A needs assessment must be undertaken in line with the Understanding the Needs of Children in Northern Ireland (UNOCINI) assessment framework (revised June 2011). The UNOCINI framework is currently under review.

The UNOCINI assessment framework states:

4.2 (4) All UNOCINI assessments and plans will be completed in partnership with the child and their family:

a. They will be child centred, showing clear evidence of engagement with the child and they will clearly identify and record the child’s needs, views and wishes.
b. The parent will be invited to participate and contribute in a meaningful manner and their views will be clearly recorded.

For children within no recourse to public funds households, a needs assessment must consider how the parent’s inability to obtain adequate accommodation or meet the costs of their child’s basic living needs impacts upon the child’s personal development and well-being, alongside any other factors affecting the child. To assist with their understanding of the impacts of poverty, social workers can refer to the Anti-Poverty Practice Framework (Department of Health, June 2018).

Article 18(8) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order states:

Before giving any assistance or imposing any conditions, an authority shall have regard to the means of the child concerned and of each of his parents.

The assessment therefore must also explore what funds and resources are available to the parent, taking into account the effect of any immigration restrictions that apply to the parent.

For more information about immigration restrictions and establishing a parent’s financial circumstances within a needs assessment, see chapter 6.

Under article 18, the local authority has a power to meet a child’s needs before the needs assessment has been completed. Therefore, interim accommodation and financial support can be provided to a family whilst the needs assessment is being undertaken. For more information about providing interim support, see section 4.2.

13.4 Meeting need

Article 18 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order provides the HSC trust with a broad power to meet a child’s assessed welfare needs by providing services, financial support (subsistence) and accommodation. The support that is to be provided to a child and their family will need to be outlined in a family support plan.

The Co-operating to Safeguard Children and Young People in Northern Ireland policy states, at paragraph 4.4:

Social workers and other relevant professionals and agencies work with the child and his/her family and develop a ‘child in need plan’ to outline how the child’s needs will be met within their family context, including actions to be taken and by whom to ensure the child’s needs can continue to be met in the longer term.

Article 18(6) specifies that services ‘may include giving assistance in kind or, in exceptional circumstances, in cash’.

Article 18(3) enables the HSC trust to provide accommodation and financial support to the whole family, where this is in the interests of promoting a child’s welfare:

Any service provided by an authority in the exercise of functions conferred on it by this Article may be provided for the family of a particular child in need or for any member of his family, if the service is provided with a view to safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare.

The HSC trust is not limited with regards to the type of support that can be provided to meet a child’s needs under article 18.

Schedule 2, paragraph 9 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order states:

Every authority shall make such provision as the authority considers appropriate for the following services to be available with respect to children in need within the authority’s area while they are living with their families—
(a)advice, guidance and counselling;
(b)occupational, social, cultural or recreational activities;
(c)home help (which may include laundry facilities);
(d)facilities for, or assistance with, travelling to and from home for the purpose of taking advantage of any other service provided under this Order or of any similar service;
(e)assistance to enable the child concerned and his family to have a holiday.

In England, the courts have found that the absolute minimum level of support that a local authority should provide to a family with no recourse to public funds must not fall below the level of Home Office asylum support (plus the cost of utilities and council tax).

For more information about providing accommodation and financial support to meet a child’s needs, see chapter 8 (accommodation) and chapter 9 (subsistence).

13.5 Human rights assessments

When a parent has no lawful status in the UK, they will be subject to schedule 3 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. Schedule 3 places a bar on the provision of accommodation and financial support under article 18 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order to a family, where the family can return to their country of origin to avoid destitution in the UK. This bar will be lifted when there is a legal barrier or practical obstacle preventing a family from returning to their country of origin. When schedule 3 applies, the HSC trust will need to undertake a human rights assessment in order to establish whether there are any barriers to return, such as a pending immigration application or appeal.

For more information about Schedule 3 and human rights assessments, see section 4.3. References in section 4.3 to ‘section 17 of the Children Act 1989’ can be replaced by ‘article 18 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995’.

13.6 Accessing immigration advice

When support is provided to a family with no recourse to public funds, it will be necessary to signpost a family to an immigration adviser. A parent without lawful status will need to find out what their options are and will require assistance with making an application. A parent who has leave to remain that is subject to a NRPF condition will need to find out whether they can apply for a change in immigration status that allows them to access to benefits and homelessness assistance.

In Northern Ireland, legal aid is available for immigration and asylum cases. Local voluntary & community organisations or the Law Centre Northern Ireland may be able to assist with some types of cases.

The HSC trust will need to signpost families to one of the following:

• A solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland who practices in immigration or asylum law
• An immigration adviser registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)

For more information about helping a family to identify and achieve a pathway off support, see chapter 9.

Acknowledgements

This guidance has been written by Catherine Houlcroft, Service Lead at the NRPF Network, with input from NRPF Network colleagues, Henry St Clair Miller, Arthur Lewis, Stefan Robert and Sam Gill, who has assisted with technical support.

The guidance has been informed by the practice experiences and learning shared by local authorities across the UK, members of the NRPF Network Steering Group, local government associations, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, and other stakeholders. We are grateful to all of the practitioners who have participated in the regional NRPF Network groups, attended our training sessions and events, contacted our enquiry service, used NRPF Connect, or have otherwise engaged with our services.