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 However, for the majority of families, section 17 support is usually withdrawn when the family are in receipt of benefits and local authority homelessness assistance following a grant of leave to remain with access to public funds. For families that claim asylum, section 17 support will need to be withdrawn when Home Office asylum support is in place.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.