ated, should be a useful source of help and advice in facilitating contact with staff in other local authorities. Pathway plan All young people who are aged 16+ who have been looked after by a local authority for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14, and who are still looked after, will be entitled to services under the Children Act 1989. Their care plan, of which the PEP is part, will become their pathway plan. The pathway plan undertaken around a young person’s 16th birthday should start to identify the young person’s long-term needs, including the skills required for independence and the required programme of assistance. The local authority also has a duty to maintain a pathway plan for those young people who leave care at 16 and 17, who were previously eligible and are known as relevant (see care leaver definition above) and those young people aged 18-21 who were either eligible or relevant. This plan is maintained until the young person is 21, or longer if he or she remains in a programme of education. 21 SFR 41/2016 Children looked-after in England including-adoption 2015-to-2016 (see Table A4) 46 Permission slips This is a common cause of concern for schools when they need permission for children to take part in activities such as school trips. While the responsibility for this rests with the child’s social worker, the task of signing permission slips can be delegated by social workers to carers. If this is the case, then it should be noted in the child’s personal education plan. No looked-after child should miss out on the opportunity of a school trip as a result of delays in obtaining a permission slip. Schools should be told by the child’s social worker whom the school needs to approach for permissions. As a general policy, it would be good practice for schoo