Children and Social Work Act 2017

4 Duty of local authority in relation to previously looked after children

Before section 23ZA of the Children Act 1989 (and the italic heading before it) insert—

“Educational achievement of previously looked after children

23ZZA Information and advice for promoting educational achievement

(1) A local authority in England must make advice and information available in accordance with this section for the purpose of promoting the educational achievement of each relevant child educated in their area.

(2) The advice and information must be made available to—

(a) any person who has parental responsibility for the child,

(b) the member of staff at the child’s school designated under section 20A of the Children and Young Persons Act 2008 or by virtue of section 2E of the Academies Act 2010, and

(c) any other person that the local authority consider appropriate.

(3) A local authority in England may do anything else that they consider appropriate with a view to promoting the educational achievement of relevant children educated in their area.

(4) A local authority in England must appoint at least one person for the purpose of discharging the duty imposed by subsection (1).

(5) The person appointed for that purpose must be an officer employed by the authority or another local authority in England.

(6) In this section—

• “relevant child” means—

  (a)

  a child who was looked after by the local authority or another local authority in England or Wales but ceased to be so looked after as a result of—

  (i)

  a child arrangements order which includes arrangements relating to with whom the child is to live, or when the child is to live with any person,

  (ii)

  a special guardianship order, or

  (iii)

  an adoption order within the meaning given by section 72(1) of the Adoption Act 1976 or section 46(1) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, or

  (b)

  a child who appears to the local authority—

  (i)

  to have been in state care in a place outside England and Wales because he or she would not otherwise have been cared for adequately, and

  (ii)

  to have ceased to be in that state care as a result of being adopted.

(7) For the purposes of this section a child is educated in a local authority’s area if—

(a) the child is receiving early years provision secured by the local authority under section 7(1) of the Childcare Act 2006, or

(b) the child is of compulsory school age and—

(i) the child attends a school in the local authority’s area, or

(ii) if the child does not attend school, the child receives all or most of his or her education in the local authority’s area.

(8) For the purposes of this section a child is in “state care” if he or she is in the care of, or accommodated by—

(a) a public authority,

(b) a religious organisation, or

(c) any other organisation the sole or main purpose of which is to benefit society.”