PROCEDURE (Hansard, 17 July 1968)

§ Mr. Millan

I beg to move Amendment 58, in page 46, line 40, at end insert, 'or both'.

This Amendment makes clear—it answers a point raised in Committee by 1547 the hon. and learned Member for Pentlands (Mr. Wylie)—that the reference in Clause 76 to the absence of the child or his parent includes the absence of the child and his parent. It makes the Clause clearer.

Perhaps I should explain that we are dealing here with children who are going to England and Wales, that is, moving out of Scotland, not with hearings dealing with children moving into Scotland, in which circumstances the children's hearing would exercise its jurisdiction not under this Part of the Bill but under the normal provisions of Part III. In those circumstances, the child would be present at the hearing. In the case of a child moving out of Scotland, on the other hand, it may well be that the children's hearing has reviewed his case only weeks before the question of his moving to England becomes an issue. In such circumstances, it seems unnecessary to have a full-scale review with the child present and his parent present. It might, indeed, be extremely oppressive if that were the requirement.

§ Mr. Ross

I beg to move Amendment 59, in page 47, line 15, leave out 'attendance of the child at the hearing' and insert: 'transfer of the child to the place notified to them by the reporter'. Clause 76 deals with the procedure for transferring children from one country to another under the provisions of Clauses 72 to 75. Subsection (4) requires the responsible authority furth of Scotland to ensure the attendance of a child for whom they are responsible, and who is being transferred to Scotland, at a children's hearing. This might be onerous, and not always appropriate. The Amendment provides that the authority shall ensure the transfer of the 1548 child to a place which it will arrange with the reporter.