A local authority must establish and maintain a service for providing people in its area with information and advice relating to care and support for adults and support for carers.
The service must provide information and advice on the following matters in particular—
In providing information and advice under this section, a local authority must in particular—
Information and advice provided under this section must be accessible to, and proportionate to the needs of, those for whom it is being provided.
"Independent financial advice" means financial advice provided by a person who is independent of the local authority in question.
In cases where a local authority performs the duty under subsection (1) jointly with one or more other local authorities by establishing and maintaining a service for their combined area—