FOI request (FOIR-463333793)

Freedom of Information request: Households accommodated under section 17 of the Children Act 1989

Requested Fri 04 November 2022
Responded Thu 10 November 2022

I am a researcher at the housing charity Shelter. We would like to understand how many families are being provided with accommodation under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

These could be households provided with accommodation under section 17 for a range of reasons, including:

• because they did not qualify for accommodation under the 1985 and 1996 Housing Acts.

• because they were not eligible for assistance.

• because they were eligible for assistance but were found to be intentionally homeless.

We would only like to collect information on the number of families that are currently in housing provided under section 17 of the Children Act. Please note we are not asking for information on households housed in Temporary Accommodation under housing or homelessness legislation.

It is our understanding that this information will be held at the county/unitary authority level, as that is how social services departments are configured.

We would be very grateful for your help.

The Request

I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of information Act 2000.

1. The number of households living in accommodation provided by the local authority under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 on 30th June 2022 (or closest possible date).

2. The total number of adults living in these households on 30th June 2022 (or the closest possible date).

3. The total number of children living in these households on 30th June 2022 (or the closest possible date).

We understand that many authorities will hold some but not all the information requested. Where this is the case, we would appreciate it if you could provide the information that you do hold and to mark others as 'Not available'.

Response

Information not held

This area is dealt with by East Sussex County Council Children's Services, please visit their website for further information:

https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk