12Power to provide payment to person entitled to adoption support service
(1)Subsection (2) applies where a local authority—
(a)has, in respect of a person, an obligation to provide, or secure the provision of, an adoption support service under this Part, or
(b)has a power so to provide and determines it should provide.
(2)Subject to subsection (4), the authority may, after having regard to the matters mentioned in subsection (3), provide the person with a payment instead of the service.
(3)Those matters are—
(a)the person’s eligibility for assistance from any other body,
(b)where the person is so eligible, the availability to the person of that assistance at the time when the service might have been provided to the person by the authority,
(c)the ability of the authority to provide, or secure the provision of, the service, and
(d)the person’s need for the service.
(4)A payment under subsection (2) may be made subject to such conditions (including conditions as to repayment) as the authority considers reasonable.
(5)In imposing conditions under subsection (4), the authority must have regard to the person’s eligibility for assistance from any other body.