Contact details
- Does your local authority have a separate team dealing with requests for support under section 17 Children Act 1989, for example an ‘NRPF team’?
No
- If yes, please provide contact details for this team (telephone and email) Service to respond
- If no, please confirm where referrals for such support should be directed to and provide contact details (telephone and email)
Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0345 155 1071 or email mashsecure@devon.gov.uk
- Please also provide contact details for the relevant legal team supporting children’s services or dedicated NRPF team (telephone and email)
Principal Child Care Lawyer, Telephone number 01392 382 882, Email legal.childrenpubliclaw-mailbox@devon.gov.uk
Policies
- Do you have any guidance or policy documents or other such written material in respect of undertaking assessments and providing support pursuant to section 17 of the Children Act 1989 to families with no recourse to public funds (including documents specific to this issue, or of more general application but covering this issue)?
No
- If yes, please provide us with a copy.
N/A
Assessments
- How many families requested assessments under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022?
As published online at Characteristics of children in need, Reporting Year 2022 – Explore education statistics – GOV.UK (explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk, we completed 5727 initial assessments for children in the 2021/22 reporting year. To identify which of these assessments were requested by families would require manual review of records which would be in excess of 18hours. We are therefore not obliged to provide this information pursuant to section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
- How many of the families identified in question 7 received financial support under section 17 following their assessment?
We do not hold this information
- How many of the families identified in question 7 received accommodation under section 17 of the Children Act following their assessment?
We do not hold this information
- How many of the families identified in question 7 had no recourse to public funds (either because of a restriction on their leave to remain or because they were undocumented)?
Please see our response to question 7 above.
- How many families with no recourse to public funds received financial support under section 17 following their assessment?
We do not hold this information
- How many families with no recourse to public funds received accommodation under section 17 following their assessment?
We do not hold this information
- What were the five most common reasons for refusing support under section 17 of the Children Act? Please note that we are not requesting personal information. Answers can be general, such as ‘not in need’ or ‘immigration status’
We do not hold this information
- What types of subsistence support does the local authority provide (e.g. cash, prepayment cards, vouchers)?
Payment into bank account and vouchers are most commonly used. Cash is rarely provided. The Council will sometimes make payment directly to a third party provider e.g. if we are booking accommodation
- What criteria are used to determine the type of subsistence support? Please provide any policies or guidance if available.
Support is provided on the basis of assessed need – there is no policy in place in relation to NRPF to respond to this query
16. If the local authority pays a fixed rate of financial support, what is this rate?
There is no fixed rate of financial support
- Does the local authority provide any additional payments, such as for young children, pregnant mothers, or maternity grants? If yes, please specify
Support is provided on the basis of assessed need
- If the answers to question 16 and/or 17 are yes, how have the figures been reached (e.g. by reference to section 4 support)?
Please see our responses to questions 16 and 17.