Zambrano Carers: R (Mensah) v Salford City Council [2014]

[appealalready]

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Adm ... /3537.html

This is a claim for judicial review of the policy adopted by Salford City Council ("the Council") for calculating the amount of financial assistance to be provided under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 ("the 1989 Act") to meet the needs of children and their parents who are destitute as they had no accommodation and no means of providing for their living requirements, in circumstances where the parents are non-British nationals who, by reason of their immigration status, are not eligible to claim social security benefits or housing benefits.

The Council's policy is to provide each family with accommodation and to pay the utility bills and council tax for the property. In addition, each family also receives a sum of money by way of financial assistance. The Council has a policy of calculating the basic amount of financial assistance to be provided by reference to the amount that the Secretary of State would provide to a failed asylum seeker and his or her dependants to enable them to purchase food and essential toiletries, pursuant to section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 ("the 1999 Act"). The policy has a degree of flexibility within it and the Council may provide assistance in excess of this level if it is needed.

The claimants contend that this approach to calculating the level of assistance is unlawful. They contended that it is not lawful to use a level of support calculated for one statutory purpose, the provision of subsistence for failed asylum seekers, for a different statutory purpose namely the performance of a duty intended to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need, or that it is irrational to do so.