DUTY OF PARENTS TO NOTIFY CHANGE OF ADDRESS (Hansard, 17 July 1968)

§ Mr. Ross

I beg to move Amendment No. 92, in page 53, line 17, leave out 'is' and insert: ''was at the material time'. The Amendment adds a necessary qualification to the defence which may be adopted by a parent in proceedings for failure to notify the local authority responsible for a child's care or supervision of the parents' address. The critical factor is not whether the accused is, at the time of proceedings under the Clause, living at the same address as the other parent, but whether he or she was living at the same address at the time when notification of a change of address should have been made and had reasonable cause at that time to believe that the other parent had fulfilled the requirement.

§ Mr. Millan

I beg to move Amendment No. 94, in page 53, line 20 at end insert: (3) A father who is making any payment to a local authority by virtue of any order or decree under Part VI of this Act shall be regarded as a parent for the purposes of this section. The purpose of the Amendment is to add a father who is making contributions 1555 under an order or decree to those responsible for informing the local authority responsible for the supervision or care of his child of change of address. The definition of "parent" in Clause 94 in the case of an illegitimate child excludes the father. It is therefore necessary to have this Amendment to the Clause to make it clear that a father who is making a contribution and who would otherwise be excluded by that definition is nevertheless under an obligation to keep the local authority informed of his change of address.