7.1 Section 17 Guidance

Section 17 Financial Assistance
Statutory Framework
Section 17 Guidance
Assessment Guidance
Additional Guidance

1. Section 17 Financial Assistance

The Family and Young People’s Service are not intended to provide income support, but in exceptional cases they can provide financial assistance to families where children are assessed as being “In Need”. Payments are made to children and families under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 broadly according to six categories:

Small payments to cover subsistence in an emergency.

Planned payments made in order to carry through a social work plan.
Payments for accommodation and subsistence for an unaccompanied minor over 16 whose age is disputed or who has elected not to be looked after.
Accommodation or subsistence for families without access to public funds.
Respite and support services for children with disabilities.
Payment to homeless 16/17 year olds.

This practice guidance sets out the following:

2. Statutory Framework

“It shall be the general duty of every local authority, including the City of London Corporation:

To safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need; and
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.”

Sect.17 (3)

The 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.

Sect 17(6)

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

Sect.17 (8)

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.

Section 17(9)

No person shall be liable to make any repayment of assistance or of its value at any time when he is in receipt of income support or family credit under the Social Security Act 1986.

Sect.17 (10)

For the purposes of this part of the Act, a child shall be taken to be in need if –

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;
His health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision for him of such services; or
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

Sect.17 (11)

For the purposes of this part, a child is disabled if he is blind, deaf, or dumb or suffers from mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed; and in this part;

“Development” means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development; and “health” means physical or mental health.

3. Section 17 Guidance

For Section 17(6) assistance to be appropriate a child must be assessed as “in need” – see above.

Levels of Need

The City Corporation and partner agencies provide a range of services for children and their families from universal services available to all, through targeted services for those requiring extra support, to specialist and rehabilitative services where crisis or urgent intervention is required.

The Children Act threshold for Children in Need is the threshold for a service provision by the Family and Young People’s Service: see Appendix 1 (Children in Need Eligibility Criteria) Assessment Framework Procedures and Guidance

Section 17 (6) is not a form of income support and therefore should usually be used on a “one-off” basis, though there will be some exceptions to this.

Assistance from other agencies

Before assistance is offered under s. 17(6) consideration must always be given to the possibility of obtaining assistance – or part assistance – from other agencies such as the Department of Works and Pensions or charitable agencies.

Grants from charities may only be spent for the purpose specified in the initial request. The social worker is required to verify that the money has been spent in the way originally specified, any remaining balance may be spent on other kinds of assistance to the same family only with written agreement from the charity concerned: otherwise, the balance must be repaid immediately it is known that it will not be needed.

Loan or Grant

Sect.17 (7) says assistance may be unconditional or subject to conditions as to the repayment of the assistance or of its value (in whole or part) - i.e. it can be a grant or a loan.

No person shall be liable to make any repayment of assistance provided through Section 17 (6) if that person is in receipt of income support or family credit (Section 17 (9). Thus any payments or assistance to people in this position will constitute a grant, although it would be appropriate to reclaim equipment when it is no longer needed.

For people not in receipt of income support or family credit, Section 17 (6) assistance should normally be given in the form of a loan unless there are exceptional circumstances making this inappropriate. When assistance is given on a loan basis, this should be made clear to the recipient and steps taken to see that the money is repaid or equipment returned when no longer needed. Written agreement must be obtained and witnessed.

Ongoing Payments

Except in the case of Unaccompanied Minors regular weekly payments should be authorised for a limited period only and reviewed before this period expires by the social worker and a manager. The review period should be identified at the outset. Many circumstances will have a natural review period e.g. processing of benefits claim expected to take 4 weeks. The maximum time for which payments can be made without being reviewed is 3 months. However in most circumstances it should be less.

If committed expenditure will ultimately exceed the initial authorising officer’s delegated powers, approval of the next senior authorising officer must be sought at the outset.

4. Assessment Guidance

Payments under Section 17 need to be made on the basis of an Assessment no matter how brief and must state clearly the need that is to be met and how the payment will meet that need.

It is not possible to specify every situation in which the use of Section 17 (6) money might be appropriate. It must be remembered that Section 17 (6) is a limited budget and with the exceptions listed at the beginning is intended for emergency or serious situations in which there are no alternative or more appropriate sources of help.

There may be situations not mentioned where exceptional circumstances prevail and assistance is given. These guidelines are not aimed at preventing us assisting where appropriate but at ensuring that a similar standard is applied across the City of London Corporation.

Listed below are the types of situation where Section 17 might be appropriate:

1.	Subsistence When appropriate food or vouchers to be given instead of cash.
2.	Utilities – Gas and Electricity
3.	Nappies and baby milk
4.	Returning children home to their parents Child must have been subject of S31 or S20, and where lack of provision would prevent the child returning home. A Community Care Grant should be applied for.
5.	Baby equipment
6.	Holidays Only for children/families in the high level of need group. The holiday must be part of a planned intervention. Assistance from Charities should be sought.
7.	Child Care Day Care e.g. childminders or nursery. Only in the short term: 3 weeks maximum. To facilitate temporary private care arrangements e.g. when parent may be hospitalised. Only appropriate if it is evident that the viability and success of the arrangement is dependent on the financial assistance. The main financial responsibility for the arrangement lies with the child’s family. At the very least, the parent should be expected to provide the person caring for the child with the child benefit received for that child. Any Sect. 17 payment should be based on actual cost.
8.	Travel Must be public transport. The only exception is when public transport is completely infeasible, or if it is cheaper by cab.
9.	Telephone installation Only when essential for the child’s welfare or protection. Should only cover installation costs. If it is felt that the customer is unable to budget and would probably be disconnected because of unpaid bills then the phone should be for incoming calls only. The possibility of installation under the Chronically Sick & Disabled Persons Act (1970) should be considered.
10.	Child Protection Case Conference costs To enable a parent or guardian to attend a child protection case conference. This may include transport costs or the cost of childcare. To enact recommendations within the child protection plan drawn up at the case conference.
11.	Clothing New shoes and underclothes for children. New night clothing. Assistance with school uniform in order to get a child to school. Assistance with the purchase of second hand clothes in other instances.
12.	Furniture and household equipment Charities should be approached if possible and feasible.
13.	Bedding Bedding for the children only.
14.	Direct work with children Part of ongoing family support work e.g. Life story work materials.
15.	Educational expenses e.g. Books and school trips. Schools should be approached in the first instance.
16.	Deposits on accommodation Only if it can be clearly demonstrated that he deposit prevents a child being Looked After, or, where it is a component of a child protection plan.
17.	After school and holiday activitiesIf part of a child protection plan, or preventing the need for accommodation.
18.	Children with a disability Supportive care including respite at home. One to one worker including play support. Specialist aid and educational equipment for a child. Sign language courses for parents etc. Services should be provided on the basis of an up to date needs assessment approved by the Practice Manager.
19.	Escorts If necessary to enable a child to get to school or nursery when the parent has a temporary disability
20.	To prevent the need to accommodate. As the local authority has a duty to promote the upbringing of children by their families then if circumstances arise in which a Section 17 (6) payment would prevent the need for the child to live away from the family, then this would constitute grounds for making a payment. An example of this might be payment to enable a child to participate in activities if this would be a means of providing support and reducing stress, thereby enabling the parents to continue to care for the child. In exceptional circumstances payment could also be made to enable a child and/or family to have a holiday; however, charities should in most circumstances be approached to fund holidays. (See 6 and 18 above)
21.	Habitual Residence Test failures and families without access to public funds
22.	Unaccompanied Minors

5. Additional Guidance

A social worker must complete an application form providing details of the user, reason for financial assistance, amount requested and payment method. If the amount of financial assistance is within the permitted approval level, the social worker can authorise the payment. If not, the request is forwarded on for authorisation.
If expenditure on behalf of a client has to be made whilst their allocated Social Worker is away, then the Duty Social Worker can complete the process on their behalf.
Each payment should have the agreement of an authorising officer (usually a Practice Manager) and the approval of a certifying officer (usually the Service Manager).
The basic process to be followed is: - Recommendation – Request – Authorisation – Payment – Receipt

All of the following should be considered by the social worker when making a request for payment.

Is the payment legal and within the Guidelines?
Which payment method is the safest/ appropriate? (Cash, L.P.O, cheque, travel warrant)
Is it the most economical option?
Is the Section 17 budget the correct one to use?
Role of the Authorising Officer (the Practice Manager).
To agree that the assistance is valid and is correct approach for meeting the service users needs and to confirm that there is money available

Both the Authorising and Certifying Officer should always be consulted before a payment is made. However if the Certifying Officer is unavailable this should not hold up payments that are urgent, relatively small or straightforward.

Payments should not be made without the involvement of 2 officers e.g. social worker request agreed by a Practice Manager. If a social worker is in the situation where they are effectively requesting and authorising they must also consult with another officer who will act as certifier. This is for their safety