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Local Authority Responses to people with NRPF during the pandemic
Some local authorities were taking steps to improve support for service users during the pandemic, and participants mentioned a variety of examples of this, the most common being to arrange for alternative accommodation to allow people to socially distance (figure 15). Figure 15: Steps to increase support during the pandemic
Issues faced by service users in accessing support Children & families/Section 17
Voluntary sector organisations reported a range of issues encountered by families with NRPF trying to access support under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 during the pandemic. These included delays in support provision, threats to take children into care, attacks on credibility, and aggression on the part of council workers.
Families seeking support for the first time during the pandemic
One organisation based in the East of England reported that their service-users were “being accused of lying about needing support” by a local authority, while another, London-based service said they had witnessed “aggressive discrediting of clients that [was] unreasonable and unfounded” on the part of local authorities. Some organisations described cases in which local authorities refused to provide urgentlyneeded interim support in the absence of evidence which service-users were unable to obtain
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