§ Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA AND BURMA (THE EARL OF MUNSTER)My Lords, in moving that your Lordships do resolve yourselves into Committee on this Bill, perhaps I might take this opportunity of replying to two questions which were raised by the noble Lord, Lord Addison, on the Second Reading. First, the noble Lord asked what steps the Secretary of State would take to ensure that the guardian proposed to be appointed was a suitable person; and secondly, he expressed the hope, in which I whole-heartedly concurred, that the Bill would not result in a machine guardianship being substituted for the personal guardianship. I think I explained on the Second Reading that the object of the Bill is to give legal status to representatives of the voluntary organizations who brought the children here and who have accepted financial and moral responsibility for them.
As the noble Lord stated, a large majority of these children are living happily in private homes, where they are treated as members of the family. When representatives of the voluntary organizations are made guardians of the children they will not, of course, wish to interfere in any happy arrangements, and as I stated on the Second Reading, it is intended as soon as the Bill becomes law to appoint guardians to all or most of the groups of children to whom it 203 applies so that the powers will be available for use if and when occasion arises. These powers will not be used automatically, but only when the children's best interests demand the intervention of some person who can act with authority.
My right honourable friend the Secretary of State will, of course, give most careful consideration to the qualification of any guardian, and I understand that it is intended that an active member of the voluntary organization shall be appointed to act as guardian. In this case his qualification for the work will be well-known as he will have been acting in that voluntary capacity for some years, doing the same form of job. The guardians to be appointed for the children from the Channel Islands and Gibraltar will be appointed after consultation with the Minister of Health who, as I stated on the Second Reading, has been responsible for supervising their welfare since their arrival in this country. Of course there will be no desire whatever on the part of His Majesty's Government to interfere in any way with the existing arrangements unless the child is unhappy or living in unsatisfactory conditions, in which case intervention must follow by some person with legal status, appointed under this Bill with a full knowledge of the responsibility and guardianship of children.
§ Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee on the Raid Bill.— (The Earl of Munster.)
§ LORD ADDISONMy Lords, I thank the noble Earl for the reply he has made and for the care with which he has investigated the case. I take it I have his assurance that in the administrative instructions from the Home Office the kind of incident which I apprehend will be effectually guarded against.
§ THE EARL OF MUNSTERCertainly.
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ House in Committee accordingly: Bill reported without amendment.
§ Then, Standing Order No. XXXIX having been dispensed with, Bill read 3a, and passed, and sent to the Commons.