# Children Act 1989, Section 23A: The responsible authority and relevant children.

Extent: E+W

(1) The responsible local authority shall have the functions set out in section 23B in respect of a relevant child.
( 2 ) In subsection (1) “ relevant child ” means (subject to subsection (3)) a child who—
(a) is not being looked after by any local authority in England or by any local authority in Wales;
(b) was, before last ceasing to be looked after, an eligible child for the purposes of paragraph 19B of Schedule 2; and
(c) is aged sixteen or seventeen.
(3) The Secretary of State may prescribe—
(a) additional categories of relevant children; and
(b) categories of children who are not to be relevant children despite falling within subsection (2).
(4) In subsection (1) the “ responsible local authority ” is the one which last looked after the child.
(5) If under subsection (3)(a) the Secretary of State prescribes a category of relevant children which includes children who do not fall within subsection (2)(b) (for example, because they were being looked after by a local authority in Scotland), the Secretary of State may in the regulations also provide for which local authority is to be the responsible local authority for those children.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1989/41/section/23A (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/children-act-1989/section-23A
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.