R (on the application of G) v London Borough of Southwark

The claimant was born in February 1990. He arrived with his mother from Somalia in 1998, and was granted indefinite leave to remain in August 2005. In June 2007, he fell out with his mother and he said that he could not continue to live with her. After spending approximately two months living with friends, the claimant wrote to the local authority requesting an assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 and asked for accommodation to be provided for him pursuant to section 20 of the Act.

In September 2007, the authority completed that assessment which stated that accommodation provided by the authority's homeless persons unit and referrals to other support agencies would be sufficient to work on addressing the social, emotional and practical issues that the claimant had. 

During the course of correspondence, a dispute arose between the parties as to whether accommodation ought to be provided pursuant to section 20 of the Act.