Dear Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council,

In a recent reply to a FOIA response submitted 26/02/2021 you outlined the local authority's policy on the provision of financial support to families with No Recourse to Public Funds (“NRPF”) seeking access to support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, could you please confirm whether the local authority, for a family eligible for support under Section 17 of the Children's Act 1989, who have no other source of income:

a) has guidance on the minimum or median rate of support provided per family member?
b) if so, what is the minimum or median rate received per week (or fortnight if subsistence is paid fortnightly rather than weekly)?

c) whether the local authority provides additional funds for children aged 1-3?
d) whether the local authority provides additional funds for children aged 0-1?
e) whether the local authority provides additional funds for pregnant mothers?
f) whether the local authority provided any additional subsistence payments during the Covid-19 pandemic to help with additional costs?

g) if the answer to any of questions c)-f) is yes, then please outline what additional funds are received per week (or fortnight if subsistence is paid fortnightly rather than weekly)?

h) whether the local authority provides a maternity grant following the birth of a child?
i) and if so, how much is this grant and is it provided for every child or only for the first child born to the mother?

j) whether the local authority provides discretionary payments for additional expenditure, eg. winter clothes, school uniforms, travel costs?
k) and if so, is there any guidance on the maximum amount payable or the frequency of payments?

If you hold any of the information requested but consider it is exempt from disclosure, please state specifically what exemption you rely upon (including the relevant statutory provision) and the reason you consider it to be applicable.

We look forward to receiving your response within 20 working days as per the FOIA.

Kind regards

Kristine Harris

Dear Lydia,

Thank you for your response to my recent FOI request. I writing to request clarification on one of the answers you provided.

In response to question a) has guidance on the minimum or median rate of support provided per family member?
You answered: "guidance is set alongside what we would pay a family under a Special Guardianship Order"

and in response to question b) if so, what is the minimum or median rate received per week (or fortnight if subsistence is paid fortnightly rather than weekly)?
you answered: "Weekly £110"

Please forgive my general ignorance of Special Guardianship Order payments but would you be able to clarify who received the £110 per week in subsistence payments, is this £110 per family member (including parents) or one sum for the family as a whole? It might be helpful if you could clarify some practical examples:
For a family with no recourse to public funds, with no other source of income, who sought support under section 17 how much subsistence support would e.g.
- a single parent with a child under 1 receive
- a single parent with 4 children receive
- couple with two children aged between 4 and 18 receive

Lastly, would it be possible to provide me with a copy of the relevant guidance?

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter.

Yours sincerely,
Kristine
Project 17