53.Subsections (1) to (3) restate the previous definition of a person qualifying for advice and assistance. It includes care leavers as a whole, as well as children and young people leaving accommodation provided by certain other providers.
54.Subsection (4) establishes a new duty on a local authority to keep in touch as they think appropriate with any child whom they have looked after. This duty is intended in practice to apply to those formerly looked after children who are not included in the new duty to keep in touch in sections 23B or 23C.
55.Subsection (5) defines which local authority is to be responsible for providing services (the relevant authority) to a person qualifying for advice and assistance. By subsection (5)(a) the relevant authority for formerly looked after young people is in all cases the authority which last looked after them. By subsection (5)(b) for other young people qualifying for help under section 24 the relevant authority will be the one in whose area they are living.
Commentary on Sections Section 24