Assessments of, and the provision of support to, families with No Recourse to Public Funds
Dear Sir/Madam,
Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request
We write to request the following information under the FOIA in relation to assessments of, and the provision of support to, families with No Recourse to Public Funds (“NRPF”) seeking access to support under section 17 of the Children Act 1989. If you require any further clarification as to our request, kindly inform us promptly and we would be happy to assist.
Contact details:
1. Does your local authority have a separate team dealing with requests for support under section 17 Children Act 1989, for example an ‘NRPF team’?
2. If yes, please provide contact details for this team (telephone and email)
3. If no, please confirm where referrals for such support should be directed to and the contact details (telephone and email)
4. Please also provide contact details for the relevant legal team supporting children’s services or dedicated NRPF team
Policies:
5. 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)?
6. If yes, please provide us with a copy.
Subsistence:
7. Do you pay a set rate of financial subsistence to families with no recourse to public funds?
If you answered yes in response to Q7 please consider questions 8-14, but ignore questions 15-16. If you answered no, please ignore questions 8-14 and proceed to question 15.
8. If yes, what is paid?
9. How has that figure been reached? E.g. is it by reference to Child Benefit rates, asylum support (section 4 or section 95 rates)?
10. When was this level set?
11. Who took this decision?
12. Please provide copies of any reports, minutes, decision documents detailing the setting of this rate.
13. If you do not pay a set rate of financial subsistence to families with no recourse to public funds, do you have any guidelines relating to rates of financial support?
14. If yes, please provide a copy.
15. If you do not pay a set rate of financial subsistence to families with no recourse to public funds, in the months April to September 2020, how many families with NRPF were receiving regular financial subsistence support under section 17 (CA 1989) from your local authority?
16. Please specify how much financial support each family received per week (or fortnight if subsistence is paid fortnightly rather than weekly) as regular subsistence in each of the months April, May, June, July, August and September 2020. Please provide a breakdown for each of these months and when doing so please provide the following information:
a. Specify the composition of the household (i.e. whether it is a two or single-parent household and how many children there are)
b. identify whether the household has any children under 1-year-old and, if so, how many
c. identify whether the household has any children between 1 and 3 years old and, if so, how many;
d. identify whether the household has any children between 4 and 17 years old and, if so, how many
e. identify whether any of the members of the household were pregnant
f. identify whether the household ever received any discretionary payments for individual items from the Council and, if so, how much;
g. identify whether the household ever received additional funds for travel costs, and if so, how much.
Please note that we are not requesting personal data and we are not requesting identifying information. We are expecting to receive something along these lines. Please note, we are not prescribing the format of your response, though you are welcome to follow our suggestion ( a table format). We are trying to provide clarification that we hope will assist you in responding.
We anticipate that this information will be easily accessible to you as we understand that the majority (if not all) of the families will receive automated payments to their subsistence cards.
If you require any further clarification as to our request, kindly inform us promptly and we would be happy to assist.
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.
Yours faithfully,
Kristine Harris
Project 17, St Joseph's Hospice, Mare Street , London E8 4SA
07808646852
Thank you for contacting Southampton City Council.
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
Due to unprecedented challenges facing the Council during the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic, resources are being diverted from service areas, so
that key services can be provided. Access to physical records is also
limited.
As such, there may be a delay in providing you with the information
requested within the statutory timeframe, although you will be kept
updated as to any delays.
The Council is will still process your request promptly, and you will
receive a response as soon as possible. I hope that this is understandable
during this extraordinary period.
If you have any queries, please contact the Council's Corporate Legal Team
on 023 8083 2129.
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Dear Kristine Harris,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received on 26/02/2021.
This matter has been logged under reference number FOI-2021-1044-040869.
Due to unprecedented challenges facing the Council during the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic, resources are being diverted from service areas, so
that key services can be provided. As such, there may be a delay in
providing you with the information requested within the statutory
timeframe.
The Council will still process your request promptly, and you will receive
a response as soon as possible. I hope that this is understandable during
this extraordinary period.
Unless clarified otherwise, your request is being dealt with under the
terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and will be forwarded to the
service area(s) holding the information. The Council will do everything it
can to ensure your request is answered promptly, and within twenty working
days of the date your request was received. However, there may be
instances where this not possible.
Please note, the service area(s) holding the information may need further
information from you to locate the information sought once they have
received the request, and you will be contacted should this be necessary.
If you have any queries about this request do not hesitate to contact us
at [1][email address]. Please remember to quote the
reference number above in any future communications.
Please note, the Council routinely publishes information on its
Publication Scheme:
[2]http://www.southampton.gov.uk/council-de...
You may wish to view our Publication scheme to ascertain whether the
information you are seeking is already published. If you find the
information you are seeking, please let us know accordingly and we will
close your request. If we do not hear from you further we will continue to
process your request in accordance with the relevant legislation.
Regards,
Nathan Matterson
Information Governance Officer
Legal & Governance
Southampton and Fareham Legal Services Partnership
Southampton City Council
Tel: 023 8083 3000 (switchboard)
[3]@SouthamptonCC [4]facebook.com/SotonCC
FOI-2021-1044-040869/01873982
This email is confidential but may have to be disclosed under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 or
data protection legislation. If you are not the person or organisation it
was meant for, apologies, please ignore it, delete it, and notify us. SCC
does not make legally binding agreements or accept formal
notices/proceedings by email. E-mails may be monitored. This email (and
its attachments) is intended only for the use of the person(s) to whom it
is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged and/or
confidential. If it has come to you in error, you must take no action
based on it, nor must you copy or show it to anyone.
Our Privacy Policy ([5]http://www.southampton.gov.uk/privacy) explains how
we handle your personal data
References
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2. http://www.southampton.gov.uk/council-de...
3. http://www.twitter.com/SouthamptonCC
4. http://www.facebook.com/SotonCC
5. http://www.southampton.gov.uk/privacy
Dear Kristine Harris,
I refer to your Freedom of Information request referenced FOI-2021-1044.
Please find attached the Council’s response to your recent Freedom of
Information Act request.
Please accept the Council’s apology for the delay in responding to your
request.
Kind regards
Business Support Service
Legal and Business Operations
Southampton City Council
Email: [1][email address]
This email is confidential but may have to be disclosed under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998, or the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If you are not the person or
organisation it was meant for, apologies, please ignore it, delete it, and
notify us. SCC does not make legally binding agreements or accept formal
notices/proceedings by email. E-mails may be monitored. This email (and
its attachments) is intended only for the use of the person(s) to whom it
is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged and/or
confidential. If it has come to you in error, you must take no action
based on it, nor must you copy or show it to anyone.
P Think of the environment...please don't print this e-mail unless you
really need to
References
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1. mailto:[email address]
Dear BSS FOI,
Thank you for your response to our FOI request (ref FOI-2021-1044-040869)
In response to Question 5 & 6
Q5. 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)?
Response:
Yes.
Q6. If yes, please provide us with a copy.
Response:
I can confirm that the City Council holds this information. The information is exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), because the information is accessible to you, as it is already in the public domain. The information is available at
http://staffinfo.southampton.gov.uk/Imag...
The link provided in response to question 6 does not appear to work. could you please attach the document as a pdf or provide me with an updated link which gives access to the document
Thank you in advance for your help
All the best
Kris
Thank you for contacting Southampton City Council – Freedom of Information
requests.
We aim to respond to all queries within 20 working days.
This email is confidential but may have to be disclosed under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004 or
data protection legislation. If you are not the person or organisation it
was meant for, apologies, please ignore it, delete it, and notify us. SCC
does not make legally binding agreements or accept formal
notices/proceedings by email. E-mails may be monitored. This email (and
its attachments) is intended only for the use of the person(s) to whom it
is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged and/or
confidential. If it has come to you in error, you must take no action
based on it, nor must you copy or show it to anyone.
Our Privacy Policy ([1]http://www.southampton.gov.uk/privacy) explains how
we handle your personal data
References
Visible links
1. http://www.southampton.gov.uk/privacy
Dear Kristine Harris,
I refer to your Freedom of Information request referenced FOI-2021-1044.
Please find document "No-Recourse-To-Public-Funds" attached.
Please accept the Council’s apology for any inconvenience caused.
Kind regards
Business Support Service
Legal and Business Operations
Southampton City Council
Email: [email address]
This email is confidential but may have to be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 1998, or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If you are not the person or organisation it was meant for, apologies, please ignore it, delete it, and notify us. SCC does not make legally binding agreements or accept formal notices/proceedings by email. E-mails may be monitored. This email (and its attachments) is intended only for the use of the person(s) to whom it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged and/or confidential. If it has come to you in error, you must take no action based on it, nor must you copy or show it to anyone.
Think of the environment...please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to
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