The Law

This page includes information about:

• Our Legal Commitment
• What You Can Do When You're...
• If You're Adopted
• Discrimination
• Legal Aid
• You and the Police
• Court
• Custody
• Legal Reponsibilities - you and your employer

Our Legal Commitment

Under the Leaving Care Act (2000), UASC Looked After Children (LAC)and young people are entitled to the same level of support as citizen LACand young people. The service works to provide this level of support as a minimum.

LAC young people will be provided with accommodation and support, health assessments, personal education plans, personal allowances and assistance in purchasing clothing. They will have an allocated social worker who will work with the young person to ensure that their needs are met and that they are supported throughout making a claim for asylum.

When a young person turns 18 years old, Children's Services will provide services under s.23 The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000. Our services will normally draw to a close at 21 years old and then the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) will assist. However, all entitlements to services are subject to Home Office status in the U.K.

What can you do?

From age 13 you:

• Can have a part-time job, with some restrictions

From age 14 you:

• Can be held fully responsible for a crime
• Can enter a pub but cannot buy or drink alcohol.

From age 15 you:

• Can be sentenced to a Young Offenders Institution for up to two years

From age 16 you:

• Are issued a National Insurance number
• Can have a full time job if you have officially left school. (you cannot work full time until the last Friday in June)
• May consume wine, beer or cider with a table meal, provided you are with an adult and an adult orders it.
• May be able to claim some benefits
• Can live independently.
• Can marry with parent's/guardian's consent
• Can apply for your own passport
• Can leave school
• Can have access to records/reports on you
• Can have an abortion without your parent's consent.
• Can have consensual sex
• Can join the Armed Forces with carer's/guardian's consent

From age 17 you:

• Can hold a driving licence to drive most vehicles
• A care order can no longer be made on you.
• Can emigrate

From age 18 you:

• Are legally seen as an adult in the eyes of the law.
• Can vote in all elections.
• Can purchase alcohol.
• Can buy cigarettes
• Can leave home without permission
• Can get married without permission
• Can join the Armed Forces without permission
• Can change your name
• Can get a tattoo
• Can place a bet
• Can make a will
• Can apply for a mortgage
• Can be called for Jury Service

If you are adopted

If you were adopted on or after 12 November 1975 but before 30 December 2005 and are aged 18 or over, and would like to attempt to trace your birth relatives, you may:

• Apply to the Registrar General for the information required to get a copy of your original birth certificate. The Registrar General may also provide the name of the court that made the adoption order and, if held, the name of the adoption agency that arranged the adoption.
• Apply to the court that made the adoption order (if known) for any details about the adoption, if the adoption agency is not known.
• Apply to the adoption agency that arranged the adoption if known (or that holds the adoption file, if different) for access to their adoption records. The adoption agency has discretion to disclose information, including the information needed to get a copy of the original birth certificate.
• Ask the local authority in the area where the adoption took place whether they have any details about the adoption, if the adoption agency is not known. Even if they did not arrange the adoption, the local authority may hold some information about adoptions that took place in their area.

Discrimination

Racial

• Under the Race Relations Act 1976, it is against the law for anyone to be treated differently from others because of their racial, ethnic or national origins.
• It is important to report any racial discrimination so that not only you but also others are not discriminated against in the same way in the future.

Sexual

• The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 makes it illegal to treat anyone differently from others because of their sex.

Disability

• The 1996 Disability Discrimination Act states that employers and suppliers of goods and services (shops, pubs etc) cannot refuse to employ, serve or provide for you because of a disability.

Your local Citizens Advice Bureau can advise you if you are experiencing any discrimination: http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/cabdir.ihtml

Legal Aid

If you're having legal problems or are accused of a crime and you can't afford to pay for a legal adviser, you may be able to get Legal Aid from the Legal Services Commission

Not all solicitors offer legal aid. You can find a list of these solicitors and advisers in your area in the directory on the Community LegalAdvice website (http://www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/).Or you can contact the Community Legal Advice helpline on 0845 345 4 345, Typetalk 180 010 8453 454 345.

You can get legal aid for things like benefit claims, accidents, for your own debt or if someone else is in debt to you, housing arrears.

You and the Police

In court

If you are under 17 and have been charged, chances are you will be tried in a Youth Court. If you have been found guilty by a Youth Court but you are up for a serious offence then you can still be sent to Crown Court.

Sentencing

There are four types of sentence available to the courts, depending upon the seriousness of the crime. They are:

• discharges
• fines
• community punishments
• imprisonment

Community punishments can also include rehabilitation and making amends, such as 'restorative justice' where the criminal makes amends directly to his victim(s).

Custody

There are three types of secure accommodation in which a young person can be placed:

Secure Training Centres (STCs)

Purpose-built centres for young offenders up to the age of 17. STCs house vulnerable young people who are sentenced to custody in a secure environment where they can be educated and rehabilitated.

Local Authority Secure Children's Homes

Runby local authority children services departments, overseen by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills. LASCHs are generally used to accommodate young offenders aged 12 to 14, girls up to the age of 16, and 15 to 16-year-old boys who are assessed as vulnerable.

Young Offender Institutions (YOIs)

Facilities run by the Prison Service. They accommodate 15 to 21-year-olds.

Legal Responsibilities

At any job, you and your employer have certain rights and responsibilities towards each other

You must:

• Carry out lawful and responsible orders
• Give an honest service
• Do your work with skill and care
• Not commit any misconduct

Your employer must:

• Give you a contract with details of pay and conditions, etc.
• Pay your wages and stick to the contract
• Take care of your health and safety
• Not ask you to do anything unlawful
• Provide a pay slip in your wages

Health and Safety and accidents:

• Make sure you use all the safety equipment you are supposed to
• Follow any safety procedures that are in place
• Report any accidents immediately to your supervisor

Sickness/Absence from work:

• Call your employer before your usual start time or asap and tell them why you are not there and when you expect to return
• If you are sick for seven days or more you need to get a certificate/sick note from your doctor

16 years and under

If you are school age you must have a work permit that is issued by Worcestershire County Council. The permit tells you what work you can doand the daysand hours that you can work.

You can do light work which does not interfere with your school dayand is not harmful to your health, safety or development. Jobs seen as ok include delivering newspapers, being a shop assistant, waiting on/washing up in cafes/restaurants (subject to certain conditions) etc

If you are under 13 you are not allowed to work.

If you are 13 – 14 years you can work:

• On a school day but you must not work more than 2 hours in one dayand you can only work outside school hours, this may include up to one hour before school.
• On a Saturday you can work for a maximum of 5 hours a day between 7amand 7pm
• On a Sunday you can work for a maximum of 2 hours between 7amand 7pm
• In the School Holidays you can work up to 5 hours a day to a maximum of 25 hours in any week

If you are 15 or 16 years you can work:

• On a school day but must not work more than 2 hours in one dayand you can only work outside school hours, this may include up to one hour before school.
• On a Saturday you can work for a maximum of 8 hours a day between 7amand 7pm
• On a Sunday you can work for a maximum of 2 hours between 7amand 7pm
• In the school holidays you can work up to 8 hours a day to a maximum of 35 hours in any week

All children are of compulsory school age until the last Friday in June in the school year of their 16^th birthday.

For further information contact Child Employment Office, Worcestershire County Council, Education Welfare Service, County Buildings, Bewdley Road, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY11 6RQ or Tel No 01562 820 840. See the Education Welfare website