Section 19 - Responsible authority: general
54.Subsection (1) sets out who the “responsible authority” is in relation to a young carer. Where the young carer is a pre-school child, the responsible authority will be the health board for the area in which the child resides. In any other case, the responsible authority will be the local authority for the area in which the young carer resides.
55.Subsection (2) provides that subsection (1) is subject to section 20 – Responsible authority: special cases.
56.Subsection (3) provides what this section and section 20 mean by “pre-school child”. This is defined by reference to section 36(3) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and means—
a child who has not commenced attendance at a primary school, or
if the child is of school age, a child who has not commenced attendance at a primary school because the relevant local authority has consented to the child’s commencement at primary school being delayed.
57.A child is of school age if the child has attained the age of five years but is under the age of 16 years (see section 31 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980).
