Children and Young Persons Bill [HL]

I am sorry that I do not immediately have to hand the statistics that the noble Baroness is seeking; I will see whether I can secure them for her. On Amendment No. 62, we are seeking to extend the entitlement to a personal adviser to care leavers up to the age of 25 where they continue or resume education and training. We are also supporting 11 local authorities that are participating in the Right2B Cared4 pilots, which are designed to give young people a greater say over when and how they leave care. Both policies are about improving the support that care leavers receive to more closely replicate that which reasonable parents might offer one of their children. The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 already imposes duties on local authorities to allocate a personal adviser, maintain a pathway plan and, in particular, to keep in touch with all former relevant children until they are at least 21 years of age, and in some cases until they are at least 25, regardless of where they may be living. However, it would not be appropriate to introduce a specific, more formal and less flexible visiting requirement in the Bill for this group of young people as proposed in the amendment. We should respect the right of this group of young adults to determine the nature of the ongoing contact with their authority after leaving care. We do not believe that it would be appropriate to impose on local authorities a duty that is potentially intrusive and that may not be possible to perform where an individual had explicitly rejected that contact.