§ Amendments made: No. 102, in page 77, line 2, at end insert:
§ 'Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (23 and 24 Geo. 5 c. 12)
§ Al.—In section 1(1)(b), for the words "one hundred pounds" there are substituted the words "£400".'.
§ No. 103, in page 77, line 2, at end insert:
§ 'Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 (c. 37)
§ A2.—In section 12(1)(b) for the words "twenty-five pounds" there is substituted "£400".'
§ No. 104, in page 77, line 11, leave out '£100' and insert'£400'.
§ No. 105, in page 79, leave out lines 12 to 14.
§
No. 159, in page 79, line 15, at end insert:
'14A. In section 2, as it applies in England and Wales,—
§
No. 107, in page 79, line 25, at end insert:
'16A. In section 14(2), for the words "one hundred pounds" there are substituted the words "£400".
16B. In section 37(2), for the words "one hundred pounds" there are substituted the words "£400".'.—[Dr. Owen.]
§ Mr. McElhoneI beg to move Amendment No. 108, in page 80, leave out paragraph 20.
§ Mr. McElhoneThese are technical amendments, the first of which is consequential on the repeal effected by the second.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Dr. OwenI beg to move Amendment No. 109, in page 80, line 19, leave out paragraph (a) and insert:
'(a) the following subsections are substituted for subsection (1)—(1) The Secretary of State may by regulations prohibit unincorporated bodies from applying for approval under section 4 of the Children Act 1975 (Approval of adoption societies); and he shall not approve any unincorporated body whose application is contrary to regulations made under this subsection.(1A) The Secretary of State may make regulations for any purpose relating to the exercise of its functions by an approved adoption society.";'.
§ Dr. OwenThese amendments provide that the Secretary of State may by regulations provide that voluntary adoption societies must be incorporated bodies if they are to be considered for approval under Clause 4.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendments made: No. 110, in page 80, line 22, after '(2)', insert:
'for "(1)" there is substituted "(2)" and'.
§ No. 111, in page 80, line 24, leave out '£100' and insert '£400'.
§
No. 112, in page 80, line 24, at end insert:
'(c) the following subsection is added after subsection (3)—
(4) Regulations under this section may make different provisions in relation to different cases or classes of cases and may exclude certain cases or classes of cases. "'.
§
No. 113, in page 80, line 36, at end insert:
'and for the words "one hundred pounds" there are substituted the words "£400".'.—[Dr. Owen.]
§ Mr. McElhoneI beg to move Amendment No. 114, in page 81, line 5, leave out' subsection is 'and insert' subsections are'.
§ Mr. McElhoneAmendment No. 115 imports certain changes in the provisions of Section 37 of the Adoption Act 1958 relating to the circumstances in which a child placed for adoption ceases to be a protected child. The changes are necessary to ensure that the provisions of Section 37, in their application to Scotland, properly reflect Scottish differences in the relevant statutory provisions.
This is the Scottish equivalent of an amendment relating to England and Wales incorporated in Committee into paragraph 28 of the schedule.
Amendment No. 114 is a paving amendment to the amendment I have just described.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendments made: No. 115, in page 81, line 21, at end insert:
'(4A) In relation to Scotland—
§
No. 116, in page 81, line 26, at end insert:
'and for the words "one hundred pounds' there are substituted the words "£400".'.
§
No. 117, in page 81, line 31, at end insert:
'and for the words "one hundred pounds" there are substituted the words "£400";'.
§ No. 118, in page 81, line 35, leave out '£100'and insert '£400'.
1533§ No. 119, in page 81, line 36, leave out paragraph 33.
§
No. 120, in page 81, line 38, after '52', insert '(1)—
(a)'.
§
No. 121, in page 81, line 39, at end insert: '
'and—
(b) for the word "six" there is substituted the word "three" and for the words "one hundred pounds" there are substituted the words "£400".'.—[Dr. Owen.]
§ Mr. McElhoneI beg to move Amendment No. 122, in page 82, line 48, leave out '; and "legal custody" means custody'.
This is a purely technical amendment removing the definition of "legal custody" in Scottish terms which paragraph 38 of Schedule 3 inserts in Section 57(1) of the Adoption Act 1958.
The need for the amendment arises because the Bill as amended in Committee no longer proposes the insertion of the term "legal custody" in the 1958 Act as it did previously. There is, therefore, no need now to include a meaning of "legal custody" for the purposes of the Bill.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendments made: No. 178, in page 83, line 5, at end insert—
'Children and Young Persons Act 1963 (c.37)
39A. In section 49(1), for the words "twenty pounds" there are substituted the words "£100".'.—[Dr. Owen.]
§
No. 123, in page 83, line 16, at end insert:
'and paragraph 1B of Schedule 2'.—[Mr. McElhone.]
§ No. 179, in page 83, line 27, leave out '"Provisional"' and insert '"the word 'Provisionally'"'.
§ No. 180, in page 83, line 28, after 'words', insert '"the words'.
§
No. 181, in page 83, line 30, at end insert:
'followed by the name, in brackets, of the country in which the order was made."'.—[Dr. Owen.]
§ Mr. McElhoneI beg to move Amendment No. 208, in page 85, line 16, at end insert:
. In section 6(1)(b), after sub-paragraph (ii) there is inserted the following sub-paragraph—1534(iii) a child who has been placed for adoption by an adoption agency (within the meaning of section 1 of the Children Act 1975); "'.
§ Mr. McElhoneThe amendment applies purely to Scotland and adjusts the terms of Section 6 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, which confers powers of supervision and inspection in regard to residential establishments and other premises on officers of the Secretary of State authorised for the purpose. The adjustment is necessary purely to reflect certain changes in the law relating to children placed for adoption who are protected under Section 37(1) of the Adoption Act 1958. It is precisely equivalent to Amendment No. 127 in relation to England and Wales.
The amendment extends Section 6(2) of the 1968 Act and makes it possible for authorised officers to supervise places where children have been placed for adoption by adoption agencies in terms of Clause 1—that is, either a local authority or an approved adoption agency. Section 6(2) at present covers foster children and protected children in terms of Part IV of the Adoption Act 1950. The amendment will not in fact extend the total range of situations open to inspection at present, but will ensure that the powers of supervision continue to be available in the case of all adopted children.
The purpose of amendments to Sections 69 and 70 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, respectively, is, first, to provide a power on the part of the court in Scotland to issue a search warrant in cases where it is shown to it that there are reasonable grounds for believing that a person is harbouring a child who has either absconded, or has been unlawfully removed, in terms of the provisions of Part V of the Act. The second purpose is to extend the provisions of the section to deal with cases of a child who absconds not only while in one of the situations covered by Part V at present, but also while awaiting transfer to such a situation.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendments made: No. 209, in page 85, line 31, at end insert:
'47A. In section 17—
(3A)A resolution under section 16(1)(b) of this Act shall not prevent the voluntary organisation, in whom are vested in accordance with the resolution the parental rights and powers in respect of a child, from allowing, either for a fixed period or until the voluntary organisation otherwise determine, the care of the child to be taken over by, and the child to be under the control of, a parent, guardian, relative or friend in any case where it appears to the voluntary organisation to be for the benefit of the child";
allowed";47B. In section 18—
§ No. 210, in page 85, line 32, leave out paragraph 48.
§
No. 251, in page 85, line 37, leave out paragraph 49 and insert:
49. In sections 32(2)—
§
No. 171, in page 85, line 41, at end insert:
'50A. In section 49(3) for the words "The sheriff may examine the reporter and" there is substituted—
§
No. 249, in page 85, line 41, at end insert:
'50B. In section 69—
(5) In this and the next following section any reference—
In section 70, at the end there are added the following words—
§
No. 125, in page 85, line 41, at end insert—
'50C. In section 71 for the words "one hundred pounds" there is substituted "£400".'.
§
No. 242, in page 85, line 41, at end insert—
'. In section 44(5) after "20", there is inserted "20A.".'.—[Mr. McElhone.]
§ Mr. Gordon WilsonI beg to move Amendment No. 240, in page 85, line 41, at end insert—
'In section 94, at the end of the definition of the word "parent" there shall be inserted—This is neither a technical nor a drafting amendment. In fact, it is a very important amendment. It is intended to deal with a serious deficiency in the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.
- "(c) in relation to a registered pupil attending a school belonging to or operated by a local education authority and for the purposes of section 32(2)(a) only means the headmaster or depute headmaster of the said school, provided that the facts upon which the ground is based arise during normal school hours."'.
Previous amendments alter the grounds of referral on which children can be sent to children's hearings for acceptance of the facts and for subsequent treatment. There is one difficulty. If the disruptive behaviour occurs at school, there is doubt whether the children's hearing has power to deal with what used to be described as a criminal offence. If there is an assault, or an act of that kind, which, under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, forms a ground of referral, the trouble emanating in the school can be dealt with by means of the children's panel and the children's hearings procedure.
Where a headmaster acts for a local authority in loco parentis, and is responsible for a child while in school, and the child's behaviour can be termed disruptive behaviour, which affects the running of the school, causes wear and tear on the nerves of a teacher, or affects the running of the classroom and the education of other children, there is doubt whether the children's panel can deal with the situation.
A briefing that I received from one panel states categorically:
At the present time there are no grounds for the referral of children whose behaviour in school is severely disruptive. Parents cannot 1538 easily be held liable for the behaviour of their child in the classroom or playground. The exclusion of pupils is not an effective or desirable method of dealing with the problem.The Educational Institute of Scotland maintains that there possibly is power to deal with the situation, but it admits that many of its headmasters and deputy headmasters doubt whether they have power to initiate complaints as a result of which the child will go to the children's panel for treatment, or for a decision which might help to cure the problems causing difficulty in the school. The easy solution, of barring the child from that school, is not acceptable. That is far too crude a method of dealing with it. Headmasters feel that their powers in that direction should be improved.This amendment was referred to the Educational Institute of Scotland. It was discussed with one of the depute secretaries of that organisation. The institute approves of the amendment. As that body is the largest teaching institute in Scotland, the Government are well advised to accept the amendment.
At present the parent of the child at school is defined as the headmaster or deputy headmaster of a school which belongs to or is operated by a local education authority where the pupil is a registered pupil of that school. That is an unacceptable way of accomplishing our aim. There is a glaring gap in the present arrangements which should be plugged as quickly as possible. If the Government do not accept the amendment, I shall not force a Division, although I should have done so had the matter been discussed earlier.
§ Mr. McElhoneThe effect of the amendment would be to provide that a new ground for the referral of a child to a children's hearing would be that he was beyond the control of his headmaster or deputy headmaster within the school situation. The amendment may one day become law, but this issue presently requires—and is receiving a good real more preliminary consideration.
At present the children's hearings deal with children who have truanted. Internal discipline within schools is another matter. It is, of course, a matter for concern, which is why the Pack Committee on Truancy and Indiscipline was set up in 1974. That committee is considering in a substantial way the issues that arise 1539 on indiscipline within schools. The proposition contained in the amendment will be considered by that body.
1.45 a.m.
There are many implications in the situation which it will have to consider before making recommendations, which in turn will have to be considered by all the bodies concerned. Examples are, alternative solutions, internal discipline and how far that is a question for the schools themselves, and the degree of education machinery required to ensure that such referrals could be controlled and carried out consistently. These matters will have implications for social work departments. But to discuss those matters now would be entering into an education debate and going far beyond the scope of the Bill.
We recognise the concern over this matter, but we feel that the amendment is premature and too simplistic in approach to be acceptable in a complex situation.
§ Amendment negatived.
§
Amendments made: No. 253, in page 87, line 1, at end insert:
'56A. In section 1(2) the following paragraph is inserted after paragraph (b):—
§
No. 127, in page 87, line 29, at end insert:
'59A. In section 58(1), the following paragraph is inserted after paragraph (b)—
§
No. 224, in page 87, line 29, at end insert:
'59A. In section 27—
§
No. 152, in page 88, line 2, after '1', insert:
'(a) at the end of the entry relating to the Adoption Act 1958 there are added the following words "Counselling services for adopted persons";
(b)'.
§
No. 128, in page 88, line 28, at end insert:
'(1A) In section 13(2), after the words "order for the payment of money" there are inserted the words "made by a magistrates' court".'.
§
No. 129, in page 88, line 39, leave out 'made with respect to a minor of whom care' and insert:
'an order requiring payments to be made to an authority to whom care of a minor'.
§
No. 130, in page 89, leave out lines 14 to 19 and insert:
'67—(1) In section 4(3) for the words from "the following provisions" to the end there are substituted the following words "sections 12(2) and 13 of the Guardianship of Minors Act 1971 shall apply as if the order made under section 2 of this Act were an order under section 9 of the Guardianship of Minors Act 1971.
(2) After section 4(3) there is inserted the following subsection—'.
§ No. 131, in page 89, line 37, leave out 'paragraph is' and insert 'paragraphs are'.
§
No. 132, in page 89, line 39 at end insert:
'(g) proceedings under section (Appeals by parents etc.) (2) of the Children Act 1975".'.—[Dr. Owen.]