Councils to notify schools of homeless pupils under new duty

A new legal duty will be introduced for councils to notify schools when a child is placed in temporary accommodation, government has announced as part of its child poverty strategy.

The cross-departmental strategy, set to be published in full tomorrow, aims to lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030.

Around 31 per cent of children in the UK are living in relative poverty after housing costs, with more than 172,000 children living in temporary accommodation in England.

The government has announced a new legal duty will be introduced for councils to “notify” schools, health visitors and GPs when a child is placed in temporary accommodation.

This will enable health and education providers to deliver a “more joined up approach to support children experiencing homelessness”, government said. No further information was provided in a government press release.

The duty will be introduced as an amendment on the children’s wellbeing and schools bill at the Lords report stage.

Child poverty a ‘stain on our country’

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said child poverty is a “stain on our country”.

“This strategy, lifting over half a million children out of poverty, represents an historic moment for generations of families now and into the future,” Phillipson said.

The education secretary added her expansion of free school meals and free breakfast club scheme was helping to “give every child the very best start in life”.

Pepe Di’lasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “School and college leaders witness the impact of child poverty on a daily basis, with pupils arriving hungry, poorly clothed, and from unsuitable housing. This is not just hugely damaging for their present wellbeing, but also for their attainment and therefore their future success and happiness.”

Di’lasio said while steps announced “will make a real difference”, a “cross-Whitehall response, backed by widespread investment, is required in order to make a tangible difference to the unacceptably high rate of child poverty”.