24.—(1) Where an authority provides any service under Article 18 or 19, other than advice, guidance or counselling, the authority may recover from a person specified in paragraph (4) such charge for the service as the authority considers reasonable.
(2) Where the authority is satisfied that that person's means are insufficient for it to be reasonably practicable for him to pay the charge, the authority shall not require him to pay more than he can reasonably be expected to pay.
(3) No person shall be liable to pay any charge under paragraph (1) at any time when he is in receipt [F1of universal credit (except in such circumstances as may be prescribed),] of income support, [F2of any element of child tax credit other than the family element, of working tax credit] [F3, of an income-based jobseeker's allowance [F4, of an income-related employment and support allowance or of universal credit]].
[F5(3A) No person shall be liable to pay any charge under paragraph (1) for a service provided under Article 19(3) or (6) at any time when—
(a)he is in receipt of guarantee state pension credit under section 1(3)(a) of the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002; or
(b)he is a member of a[F6 couple] (within the meaning of that Act) the other member of which is in receipt of guarantee state pension credit.]
(4) The persons are—
(a)where the service is provided for a child under 16, each of his parents;
(b)where it is provided for a child who has reached the age of 16, the child himself; and
(c)where it is provided for a member of the child's family, that member.
(5) Any charge under paragraph (1) may, without prejudice to any other method of recovery, be recovered summarily as a civil debt.
(6) Where an authority provides any accommodation under Article 21(1) or Article 23(1) or (2) for a child who was (before the authority began to look after him) ordinarily resident within the area of another authority, the first authority may recover any reasonable expenses incurred by it in providing the accommodation and maintaining the child from the other authority.
F1Words in art. 24(3) inserted (27.9.2017) by The Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/2006), art. 2(2), Sch. 2 para. 28(c); S.R. 2017/190, art. 4(1)(2)(g)(i)
F3Words in art. 24(3) substituted (27.10.2008) by Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007 (c. 2), ss. 28(1), 60(1), Sch. 3 para. 5(5) (with transitional provisions in s. 29, Sch. 4); S.R. 2008/276, art. 2(2)(d), Sch. Pt. 2
F4Words in art. 24(3) substituted (coming into force in accordance with reg. 1(1) of the amending S.R.) by The Universal Credit (Consequential, Supplementary, Incidental and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016/236), reg. 6
F6SR 2005/479