HL Deb 20 May 1941 vol 119 cc199-202

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Cecil.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly.

[THE EARL. OF ONSLOW in the Chair.]

Clause 1:

Guardianship of children sent overseas during the present war period.

1.—(1) If the Secretary of State is satisfied that for the purpose of affording assistance to any authorities or persons in any country outside the United Kingdom who undertake responsibility for the welfare of children who are in that country without their parents in consequence of war operations, it is expedient to appoint guardians for any children sent out of the United Kingdom during the present war period who are for the time being in that country, he may, on the application of any such authority or person, appoint such guardians; and a person so appointed as guardian for any child is hereinafter referred to as the appointed guardian of the child:

(2) Where a person has become the appointed guardian of a child in any country, then, subject as hereinafter provided, so long as the child remains in that country the appointed guardian shall be deemed to be the sole guardian of the person of the child, and may exercise all functions exercisable in accordance with the law of England by the sole guardian of the person of an infant domiciled in England, notwithstanding that the child may not be so domiciled, including the function of authorising any person to act on his behalf in respect of such matters as he thinks proper:

(3) The Secretary of State may revoke the appointment of any appointed guardian; and if the parents of any child who was sent out of the United Kingdom before the passing of this Act and for whom such a guardian has been appointed request the Secretary of State to revoke the appointment, the Secretary of Stat shall, as soon as he is satisfied that proper arrangements have been made for the care of the child, revoke the appointment.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DOMINION AFFAIRS (LORD CECIL) (Viscount Cranborne) moved, in subsection (1), after "authorities," to insert "society." The noble Lord said: This is a purely drafting Amendment. The attention of the Government has been drawn to the fact that it might be legally held that the words "authority" or "person" might not cover such an unofficial body as the United States Committee. The word "society" is therefore to be inserted to make certain that that Committee is included under the Bill. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 1, line 7, after ("authorities") insert ("societies").—(Lord Cecil.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD CECIL

The next Amendment is consequential. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 1, line 13, at end insert ("society").—(Lord Cecil.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD CECIL moved, in subsection (2), to leave out "any person" and insert "such authorities, societies, or persons as he considers suitable." The noble Lord said: This Amendment arises upon a point that was raised by the noble and learned Viscount, Lord Maugham, on Second Reading. The purpose of the Amendment is to bring the Bill into closer harmony with the guiding principle of the British law of guardianship. This principle implies some personal relationship between the guardian and his ward, and the words that I propose in this Amendment make it clear that this principle is not abandoned in the present case. His Majesty's Ambassador at Washington and His Majesty's High Commissioner in Canada will be required to make certain, before they delegate their responsibilities under the Bill, that the authority, society, or person who is to act on their behalf is personally suitable to take charge of the child in question. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 6, leave out ("any person") and insert ("such authorities, societies, or persons as he considers suitable").—(Lord Cecil.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD CECIL moved, in subsection (3), to leave out "any appointed guardian" and insert "the appointed guardian of any child." The noble Lord said: This Amendment is merely to make certain that under the Bill the Secretary of State may revoke the appointment of any appointed guardian. It appears that the Bill as drafted might be taken as meaning that he would have to revoke the appointment of the guardians of all the children. Actually, the intention was that it should only apply to the guardianship of any single child affected by the Bill. This Amendment has been put down to cover that point.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 17, leave out ("any appointed guardian") and insert ("the appointed guardian of any child").—(Lord Cecil).

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD CECIL moved to insert after subsection (4): (5) For the purposes of this Act, a child domiciled in any part of the United Kingdom who has at any time during the present war period been left unaccompanied by his parents in any country outside the United Kingdom shall be deemed to have been sent out of the United Kingdom at that time.

The noble Lord said: This Amendment has been put down to deal with a point raised by the noble and learned Viscount, Lord Maugham. He pointed out during the debate on Second Reading, that though the Bill covered all children who might be sent out of this country as a result of the war, it did not appear to cover children who were already in other countries, and who were left there by their parents as the result of the war. I undertook to look into the matter. I said the Bill was clearly intended to cover such cases, and that if it did not the Government would take steps to amend it. The present Amendment gives effect to that assurance.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 30, at end insert the said new subsection—(Lord Cecil).

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

Remaining clause agreed to.