About Section 17
Under Section 17 of the Children's Act 1989, a child or young person will be considered in need if:
- they're unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health and development without help from the council
- their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired or further impaired without help from the council
- they have a disability.
Duty of the council
It's the general duty of the council to:
- safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need
- be consistent with that duty by promoting the upbringing of children by their families
- provide a range and level of services to those children in need.
Local councils are only under duty to a child in their area. This means a child has to be physically present in the geographical area of the local council to trigger the Section 17 duty.