Support provided to people with No Recourse to Public Funds

The request was refused by Achieving for Children.

Dear Achieving for Children,

Please provide the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

I am seeking information about the support provided by Achieving Children to people who have ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF) status, assigned to those subject to immigration control (e.g. those on temporary visas, those with a pending visa application, those who do not have any immigration status), which excludes them from mainstream welfare benefits and housing support. People with NRPF are entitled to support from Local Authorities in certain circumstances to avoid destitution, where there is a child in need, and / or because of complex health needs (under Children Act 1989, Care Act 2014 and / or Human Rights Act).

I am requesting data from two-time periods (January-June 2017 and January-June 2018). I am aware that in cases where gathering data to fully respond to a Freedom of Information request would exceed the allowable time limit or cost, authorities are not required to work up to these limits (that is, they are not required to partially respond and provide as much data as the limit allows). However, I ask that if providing data for both time periods will exceed the limit, that you please just provide data for the single time period January-June 2018, in accordance with Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 that states authorities have a duty to provide assistance to those making a request.

I suggest this FOI request is forwarded to Achieving Children's dedicated NRPF Team, or if you do not have a dedicated NRPF Team, to Children’s Services. Many thanks in advance for your assistance with this matter.

Please provide data for the following questions:

1. How many requests for support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 did Achieving Children receive from families where the parent(s) had ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF) status in the following six-month periods:

a. January – June 2018
b. January – June 2017

2. How many Child in Need Assessments were conducted by Achieving Children in response to requests for support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 from families where the parent(s) had ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF) status in the following six-month periods:

a. January – June 2018
b. January – June 2017

3. How many requests for support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 from families where the parent(s) had ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF) status were granted (that is, the family went on to receive social services support) in the following six-month periods:

a. January – June 2018
b. January – June 2017

4. How many requests for support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 from families where the parent had ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF) status were refused for the following reasons, during the period January-June 2018:

a. The parents’ immigration status
b. The family was not ordinarily resident in the borough
c. The family was deemed not destitute / the child(ren) was not ‘in need’ under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

Yours faithfully,

Anna Mulcahy

AfC Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests, Achieving for Children

Dear Miss Mulcahy,
Your Freedom of Information request has now been considered.  
Request
I am seeking information about the support provided by Achieving Children
to people who have ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF) status, assigned
to those subject to immigration control (e.g. those on temporary visas,
those with a pending visa application, those who do not have any
immigration status), which excludes them from mainstream welfare benefits
and housing support. People with NRPF are entitled to support from Local
Authorities in certain circumstances to avoid destitution, where there is
a child in need, and / or because of complex health needs (under Children
Act 1989, Care Act 2014 and / or Human Rights Act). 

I am requesting data from two-time periods (January-June 2017 and
January-June 2018). I am aware that in cases where gathering data to fully
respond to a Freedom of Information request would exceed the allowable
time limit or cost, authorities are not required to work up to these
limits (that is, they are not required to partially respond and provide as
much data as the limit allows). However, I ask that if providing data for
both time periods will exceed the limit, that you please just provide data
for the single time period January-June 2018, in accordance with Section
16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 that states authorities have a
duty to provide assistance to those making a request.

I suggest this FOI request is forwarded to Achieving Children's dedicated
NRPF Team, or if you do not have a dedicated NRPF Team, to Children’s
Services. Many thanks in advance for your assistance with this matter. 

Please provide data for the following questions:

1. How many requests for support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989
did Achieving Children receive from families where the parent(s) had ‘No
Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF) status in the following six-month
periods:

a.      January – June 2018
b.      January – June 2017

2. How many Child in Need Assessments were conducted by Achieving Children
in response to requests for support under Section 17 of the Children Act
1989 from families where the parent(s) had ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’
(NRPF) status in the following six-month periods:

a.      January – June 2018
b.      January – June 2017

3. How many requests for support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989
from families where the parent(s) had ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF)
status were granted (that is, the family went on to receive social
services support) in the following six-month periods:

a.      January – June 2018
b.      January – June 2017

4. How many requests for support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989
from families where the parent had ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF)
status were refused for the following reasons, during the period
January-June 2018:

a.      The parents’ immigration status
b.      The family was not ordinarily resident in the borough
c.      The family was deemed not destitute / the child(ren) was not ‘in
need’ under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989.     

Response

Your request for information regarding families who have no recourse to
public funds is refused on the basis that providing this information
would exceed the appropriate limit, as specified in the Freedom of
Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations
2004.

The information requested is not routinely collated in a way that would
allow us to easily extract the data requested. To provide the information
would require an Officer to review 500 to 600 assessments and extract the
information. Even spending 10 minutes on each assessment would take 83.33
hours. Therefore section 12(1) of the Act applies.

 

The appropriate limit has been set at £450 and may include working hours
of any person acting on our behalf at a rate of £25 per hour. This equates
to 18 hours to locate and extract the relevant information.

 

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 this letter acts as
a Refusal Notice.

You have the right of appeal against the decision. If you wish to appeal
please set out in writing your grounds of appeal and send to:

 

Associate Director for Strategy and Programmes

Achieving for Children

1^st Floor Civic Centre

42 York Street

Twickenham

TW1 3BW

E-mail: [1][email address]

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal appeal you may
appeal further to the Information Commissioner’s Office at:

 

Wycliffe House 

Water Lane 

Wilmslow 

Cheshire 

SK9 5AF

 

Fax: 01625 524 510

DX  20819

 

www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,
Rebecca Granberg
Information Governance Support 
Business Services and Transformation
  
Email: [2][email address]
Achieving for Children
42 York Street, Twickenham, TW1 3BW
Providing Children’s Services for Kingston and Richmond

[3]http://www.achievingforchildren.org.uk/

References

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