Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department provides for a child whose parent enters a women's refuge in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) England.

Under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, every local authority has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need, by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs. If a child joins the parent in a refuge, the duty would lie with the local authority where the refuge is situated, by virtue of the child being in their area. This would apply to Manchester as to any other authority.