Section 85: Children accommodated by health authorities and local education authorities., Children Act 1989

Where a child is provided with accommodation in England by any ..., Special Health Authority, ... National Health Service trust or NHS foundation trust or by a local authority in England in the exercise of education functions ("the accommodating authority")—

for a consecutive period of at least three months; or

with the intention, on the part of that authority, of accommodating him for such a period,

the accommodating authority shall notify the appropriate officer of the responsible authority.

Where subsection (1) applies with respect to a child, the accommodating authority shall also notify the appropriate officer of the responsible authority when they cease to accommodate the child.

Where a child is provided with accommodation—

by a body which is not mentioned in subsection (1), and

pursuant to arrangements made by the Secretary of State, NHS England or an integrated care board under the National Health Service Act 2006,

subsections (1) and (2) apply in relation to the Secretary of State, NHS England or (as the case may be) the integrated care board as if it were the accommodating authority.

In a case where the child is provided with accommodation in England by a local authority in England in the exercise of education functions, subsections (1) and (2) apply only if the local authority providing the accommodation is different from the responsible authority.

In this section "the responsible authority" means—

the local authority appearing to the accommodating authority to be the authority within whose area the child was ordinarily resident immediately before being accommodated; or

where it appears to the accommodating authority that a child was not ordinarily resident within the area of any local authority, the local authority within whose area the accommodation is situated.

In this section and sections 86 and 86A " the appropriate officer " means—

in relation to a local authority in England, their director of children's services; and

in relation to a local authority in Wales, their director of social services.

Where the appropriate officer of a local authority in England has been notified under this section, or under section 120 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (assessment of children accommodated by health authorities and education authorities), the local authority shall—

take such steps as are reasonably practicable to enable them to determine whether the child's welfare is adequately safeguarded and promoted while he is accommodated by the accommodating authority; and

consider the extent to which (if at all) they should exercise any of their functions under this Act with respect to the child.

For the purposes of subsection (4)(b), if the child is not in the area of the local authority, they must treat him as if he were in that area.

Section 85: Children accommodated by health authorities and local education authorities.

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