PART 1General
Relevant children3
1
For the purposes of section 23A(3), children falling within paragraph (2) are an additional category of relevant children.
2
Subject to paragraph (3), a child falls within this paragraph if—
a
the child is aged 16 or 17,
b
the child is not subject to a care order, and
c
on attaining the age of 16 the child was detained, or in hospital, and immediately before being detained or admitted to hospital had been looked after by a local authority for a period or periods amounting in total to at least 13 weeks, which began after the child attained the age of 146.
3
In calculating the period of 13 weeks referred to in paragraph (2)(b), no account is to be taken of any period in which the child was looked after by a local authority in the course of a pre-planned series of short-term placements, none of which individually exceeded four weeks, where at the end of each such placement the child returned to the care of their parent, or a person who is not a parent but who has parental responsibility for them.
4
For the purposes of this regulation—
a
“detained” means detained in a remand centre, a young offender institution or a secure training centre7, or any other institution pursuant to an order of a court, and
b
“hospital” has the meaning given in section 275(1) of the National Health Service Act 20068.
5
Subject to paragraph (6), a child who has lived for a continuous period of six months or more (whether that period commenced before or after they ceased to be looked after) with—
a
their parent,
b
someone who is not their parent but who has parental responsibility for them, or
c
where they were in care and there was a residence order in force immediately before the care order was made, a person in whose favour the residence order was made,
is not a relevant child despite falling within section 23A(2).
6
Where living arrangements described in paragraph (5) break down and the child ceases to live with the person concerned, the child is a relevant child.