on shared with them. The child should understand that they have the right to choose an advocate whom they feel comfortable with and the local authority should take reasonable action to accommodate a child’s wishes. Equally, if the child or young person requests a change in advocate the local authority should take steps to facilitate this. 2.15 Where a child chooses their own advocate, the local authority may facilitate support and advice to help the individual to effect the role of an advocate. For example, the local authority should consider providing information about the National Standards for the Provision of Children’s Advocacy Services. 12 2.16 Where advocacy services are provided in-house, a child or young person may nevertheless feel more comfortable if they are enabled to use an advocate who is not an in-house advocate of the local authority. In any event, the local authority should proactively provide information about alternative sources of help. If the child prefers to use an advocate who is not provided in-house then the local authority should consider the request carefully and think about what steps it might take to meet the child’s wishes. PUBLICITY ABOUT ADVOCACY SERVICES 2.17 Section 26A(5) of the Children Act 1989 requires local authorities to give such publicity to their arrangements for the provision of advocacy services as they consider appropriate. Section 26(8) also requires local authorities to give appropriate publicity to their procedure for considering representations. 2.18 Many children and young people told us that they are not aware about how to make a complaint. Local authorities must have robust communication and publicity mechanisms to ensure children and young people, including those with additional communication needs, are aware of the