HC Deb 23 October 1989 vol 158 cc641-2

' . In the application to Scotland of this Part.

  1. (a) "the court" means the sheriff;
  2. (b) "day care" means any form of care or of activity supervised by a responsible person provided for children during the day (whether or not it is provided on a regular basis);
  3. (c) "education authority" has the same meaning as in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980;
  4. (d) "local authority foster parent" means a foster parent with whom a child is placed by a local authority;
  5. (e) for references to a person having parental responsibility for a child there shall be substituted references to a person in whom parental rights and duties relating to the child are vested; and
  6. (f) for references to fostering a child privately there shall be substituted references to maintaining a foster child within the meaning of the Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984.'.—[Mr. Mellor.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

Mr. Mellor

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker

With this it will be convenient to take Government amendments Nos. 293 to 298 and Government amendment No. 363.

Mr. Mellor

These are technical amendments designed to allow part X of the Bill to operate in Scotland.

Mr. Tom Clarke

I assure the House that at this late hour I do not propose to initiate a major debate on Scotland, inviting though that is. There are those who might suggest that so keen am I on promoting the Solicitor-General that there might be a vacancy for the Secretary of State for Scotland in the not-too-distant-future and he might be seen as an applicant.

My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Garscadden (Mr. Dewar) would expect me to ask a question or two. We appreciate that the new clause applies to part X of the Bill, which deals with child minding and day care. It is rather comprehensive. It includes the sheriff courts, day care, education authorities, local authority foster parents, parental rights and references to fostering a child privately.

In Committee, even on issues such as these, which I accept cannot be argued to have a major impact on how we deal with these matters, voluntary organisations and local authorities had an opportunity to give us their views. I might be mistaken, but I have not had an opportunity to hear the views of any Scottish organisations. I am not aware of the views of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

I am asking the Minister, not to give me an assurance that such views will be sought before tomorrow morning, or even before the Bill reaches another place, but that, before implementation, the Government, particularly the Secretary of State for Scotland, will bear in mind the views of such organisations.

Mr. Mellor

I dinna ken too much about this the noo —but I shall do my best to give the undertaking that the hon. Gentleman wants.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

Further consideration of the Bill adjourned.—[Mr. Kenneth Carlisle.]

Bill, as amended (in the Standing Committee), to be further considered tomorrow.