Childright: Homelessness - Breakthrough on duty to house teenagers

The legal duty owed to homeless teenagers by local authority children's services has been a contentious issue for some years. A recent House of Lords decision, R (on the application of G) v London Borough of Southwark [2009] UKHL 26 [G v Southwark], finally provides clarification on the circumstances in which local authority children's services departments must provide accommodation to young people in need. The decision will undoubtedly impact on the number of children taken into care between the ages of 16 and 18 and may require a considerable change of approach and allocation of resources in some local authorities.

Section 20 (1) of the Children Act 1989 states that the local authority shall "provide accommodation for any child in need within their area who appears to them to require accommodation as a result of: (a) there being no person who has parental responsibility for him... or (c) the person who has been caring for him being prevented (whether or not permanently, and for whatever reason) from providing him with suitable accommodation". This is not the only statutory provision governing accommodation for children and young people in the Act. Children's services also have a general obligation, contained in section 17, to provide a "range of services" to children in need, including accommodation.