HL Deb 30 June 1948 vol 157 cc94-5

Clause 6, page 7, line 41, at end, insert— ("(44) Where under section seventy-four of the said Act of 1933 of section seventy-eight of the said Act of 1937, a child is under the supervision of the managers of an approved school or under paragraph 6 of the Fourth Schedule to the said Act of 1933, or paragraph 6 of the Second Schedule to the said Act of 1937, the managers of an approved school by licence permit a child to live away from the school, and in either case it appears to the managers that the child has no home or that his home is unsatisfactory, then with the consent of the managers, in a case falling within the said section severity-four or seventy-eight, or if the licence so provides, in a case falling within the said paragraph 6, a local authority may (without prejudice to the provisions of section one of this Act if those provisions apply) receive the child into their care; and where they do so—

  1. (a) the provisions of this Act, except subsections (4) and (5) of section one thereof and so much of subsection (3) of that section as requires a local authority to endeavour to secure that the care of a child is taken over by a parent, guardian, relative or friend, shall apply as if the child had been received into their care under the said section one; but
  2. (b) the child shall not for the purposes of the said Act of 1933, or the said Act of 1937, be deemed to have ceased to be under the care of the managers of the school.")

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, Clause 6 (3) of the Bill provides that the making of an approved school order for a child in care will take the child out of the care of the local authority, and will bring to an end any resolution that may be in force. This is necessary to avoid conflict of power, as an approved school order confers parental rights on the managers. The Amendment empowers the local authority, with the consent of the school managers, to receive into their care any child (not only a child who was in care previously), on licence or under supervision, who has no home or whose home, in the opinion of the managers, is unsatisfactory. This will enable the child care service developed under the provisions of the Bill to be made available in specified circumstances to children on licence or under supervision, while at the same time preserving the responsibility of the school managers for the welfare of such children. I beg to move.

Moved, That this House do agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.