I have a case where a child on DLA is attending a residential school with the place funded by the LA. Child comes home during school holidays and during the odd weekend. DLA care has been suspended but the parent still receives allowances and premiums for the child as part of their HB/CTB, even during term-times.

The HB manual says that where a child normally lives with the claimant, except during term time, and remains the responsibility of the claimant except for day to day matters while they are at residential school, then they are treated as only temporarily absent from home and part of the claimant’s family for benefits purposes.

However if the child is 'looked after' by the LA then the family will not receive allowances/premiums for the child except for those days that the child returns home.

I can see that a child should definitely be treated as part of the family for HB/CTB purposes where they attend a res school and that placement is not funded by the LA.

My question is whether a child automatically becomes 'looked after' by virtue of their placement being funded by the LA, or whether they remain the responsibility of the parents unless more formal powers are sought by the LA.

Hopefully somebody out there can put me right.

Derek

Dereek

A looked after child is a child provided with accommodation for a period exceeding 24 hours under sections 20 and 21 of the Children Act 1989 or has been placed in the care of a Local Autbhority by virtue of a care order made under part 4 of the Act.

Regards
Paul

Which I think means that if the residential provision is made under any other legislation - ie not in care or being temporarily housed for being in some way at risk - then the child does not cease to be a member of the family. Unusual for children attending residential schools becasue of disability to cease to be members of their families.

Thanks a lot for clarifying this for me.

Derek

Its a wee bit more complicated (and thankfully a wee bit more simple too!), than the above posts suggest...

The placement has been described as being funded by the LA. But which part of the LA? As a rule of thumb if the placement is solely funded by education, then the child will NOT be a LAC child (LAC = Looked After Child). If the placement is funded by social services hen the child will be a LAC child. However, many LA's are moving to merge their Education and Social Services functions into a "Children's Directorate" where Education and Social Services merge and the education/social work distinction is becoming meaningless (in England all LA's must merge both depts. by 2008).

The best way to find out if the child is LAC is to ask the LA. You will need mum/dad to consent or be present when you make contact (anyone with Parental Responsibility can agree). You can also verify the child status by asking for a look at the paperwork that has been sent to the parents. If any refers to a 'placement plan' or 'care plan' or 'review of arangements' or if any of the paperwork has the phrase 'LAC' on it, the child will be LAC. Also, if the child is LAC there will have had to have been a 'review' 28 days after the commencement of the placement, then a further review within 3 months of the first review, and then further reviews every 6 months from the second review. You can ask the primary carer of the child if these reviews have occurred and that will tell you if education or social care services are involved.

The policy reason for the premiums being removed from all benefits is because if the child is LAC, then the local authority is legally responsible for meeting all of the childs needs, including ay needs the child has if they return to the family home, even for a short period of time. If the LA is not meeting the childs needs when the child returns to the family home, you will need to challenge that by advocating the use of the Children Act Complaints Procedures (which are totally different and have many more teeth then normal Local Government Act complaints procedures that apply to most other aspects of LA decision making and policy decisions.

For more info on LAC children, see...

http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/socialcare/lookedafterchildren/

Hope this helps...