Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026

11 Children in temporary accommodation E+W

(1) After section 213A of the Housing Act 1996 (homelessness: co-operation in certain cases involving children) insert—

“213AA Duty of local housing authority in England to notify in certain cases involving children

(1) This section applies where a local housing authority in England secures that accommodation is available for occupation by a child, in response to an application for assistance under this Part, unless securing that such accommodation is available means the authority ceases to be subject to the duty under section 193.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3), the authority must ask the parent of the child—

(a) to agree to the authority notifying each relevant body applicable to the child that accommodation has been secured for the child as mentioned in subsection (1), and

(b) if that agreement is given, to provide the authority with information about those bodies to enable the authority to identify each relevant body applicable to the child.

(3) If the child—

(a) is 16 or 17 years old,

(b) is living independently from their parents, and

(c) is the applicant for assistance within the meaning of section 183(2),

the authority must ask the child as provided in subsection (2)(a) and (b).

(4) If the parent or child (as the case may be) agrees to the authority making the notification mentioned in subsection (2)(a), the authority must take reasonable steps to notify each relevant body applicable to the child within 14 days beginning with the latest of—

(a) the day on which the authority receives agreement,

(b) the day on which the information about the relevant body is provided to the authority, and

(c) the day on which the child is placed in accommodation.

(5) The duties in subsections (2) and (4) only arise once in relation to each application for assistance under this Part.

(6) In this section “relevant body” means—

(a) the general medical practice in England with which the child is registered;

(b) the body in the child’s local authority area in England through which health visiting services are available to the child;

(c) the appropriate authority of a relevant educational institution in England at which the child is a registered pupil or student.

(7) The Secretary of State may make provision by regulations for the purposes of this section—

(a) specifying any other description of body as a “relevant body”;

(b) specifying any other institution as a relevant educational institution;

(c) specifying the appropriate authority to be notified under this section in relation to an institution specified under paragraph (b).

(8) In this section—

• “appropriate authority” means—

  (a)

  in relation to an Academy, a non-maintained special school, a special post-16 institution, an independent school or a provider of post-16 education or training, the proprietor;

  (b)

  in relation to a school maintained by a local authority or an institution within the further education sector, the governing body;

• “child” means a person under the age of 18;

• “parent” in relation to a child, includes any person—

  (a)

  who is not a parent of the child but who has parental responsibility for the child, or

  (b)

  who has care of the child, disregarding any absence of the child at a hospital or boarding school or any other temporary absence;

• “parental responsibility” has the meaning given by section 3 of the Children Act 1989;

• “proprietor” means the person or body of persons responsible for the management of the school or institution;

• “relevant educational institution” means—

  (a)

  an Academy (as defined by section 579(1) of the Education Act 1996) other than a secure 16-19 Academy (within the meaning of section 1B(7) of the Academies Act 2010);

  (b)

  a school maintained by a local authority (within the meaning of section 142(1) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998);

  (c)

  a non-maintained special school (within the meaning of section 337A of the Education Act 1996);

  (d)

  an independent school (within the meaning of section 463 of the Education Act 1996);

  (e)

  an institution within the further education sector (within the meaning of section 91(3) of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992);

  (f)

  a special post-16 institution (within the meaning of section 83 of the Children and Families Act 2014);

  (g)

  a provider of post-16 education or training that provides the kind of education or training mentioned in section 123(1)(d) or (g) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006;

  (h)

  a provider of post-16 education or training that provides education or training, other than in institutions within the further education sector, which is suitable to the requirements of persons aged 16 or over but under 19 and funded wholly or partly by the Secretary of State.”

(2) The amendment made by this section does not apply in relation to a child for whom a local housing authority in England has secured accommodation in response to an application for assistance under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 which was made before the date on which this section comes into force.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 11 in force at Royal Assent for specified purposes, see s. 78(1)(a)(5)