§ [Nos. 126–129]
§ After Clause 52, insert the following new clause—
§ Transfer of parental rights and duties to voluntary organisations
§ .—(1) Where it appears to a local authority as respects a child in the care of a voluntary organisation which is an incorporated body—
- (a) that the child is not in the care of any local authority; and
- (b) that a condition specified in section 2(1) of the Children Act 1948 is satisfied; and
- (c)that it is necessary in the interests of the welfare of the child for the parental rights and duties to be vested in the organisation,
§ (2) While a resolution under this section is in force the parental rights and duties shall vest in the organisation in whose care the child is when the resolution is passed.
§ (3) lf, immediately before the resolution is passed, the parental rights and duties are vested in the parent in relation to whom the resolution is passed jointly with any other person, then on the passing of the resolution the parental rights and duties shall vest jointly in that other person and the organisation in whose care the child is.
§ (4) In determining, for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, whether the condition specified in section 2(1)(b)(i) of the Children Act 1948 is satisfied, if the whereabouts of any parent of the child have remained unknown for twelve months, that parent shall be deemed to have abandoned the child.
§ (5) A resolution under subsection (1) may not he passed by a local authority in respect of any child unless—
- (a) the child is living in the area of the authority either in a voluntary home or with foster parents with whom he has been boarded by the organisation in whose care he is; and
- (b) that organisation has requested the authority to pass the resolution.
§ (6) The parental rights and duties which may vest in an organisation by virtue of this section do not include the right to consent or refuse to consent to the making of an application under section 13 and the right to agree or refuse to agree to the making of an adoption order or an order under section (Adoption of children abroad): and regulations made under section 33(1) of the Children Act 1948 shall apply to the emigration of a child notwithstanding that the parental rights and duties relating 1274 to the child are vested in the voluntary organisation.
§ (7) Subsection (8) of section 2 of the Children Act 1948 shall apply in relation to a resolution under subsection (I) as if it were a resolution under the said section 2.'
§ Insert the following new clause:
§ Duty of local authority to assume parental rights and duties
§ (" .—(1) If it appears to a local authority, having regard to the interests of the welfare of a child living within their area, the parental rights and duties with respect to whom are by virtue of a resolution under section (Transfer of parental rights and duties to voluntary organisations) vested in a voluntary organisation, that it is necessary that the parental rights and duties should no longer be vested in the organisation, the local authority shall resolve that there shall vest in them the parental rights and duties relating to the child.
§ (2) The local authority shall within seven days of passing a resolution under subsection (1) by notice in writing inform the organisation and each parent, guardian or custodian of the child whose whereabouts are known to them that the resolution has been passed.")
§ Insert the following new clause:
§ Effect of resolutions under sections (Transfer of parental rights and dirties to voluntary organisations) and (Duty of local authority to assume parental rights and duties.)
§ (" .—(1) A resolution under subsection (1) of section (Transfer of parental rights and duties to voluntary organisations) shall cease to have effect on the passing of a resolution under subsection (1) of section (Duty of local authority to assume parental rights and duties).
§ (2) Section 6 of the Children Act 1948 shall have effect in relation to a resolution under subsection (I) of section (Transfer of parental rights and duties to voluntary organisations) as it has effect in relation to a resolution under section 2 of that Act.
§ (3) A resolution under subsection (1) of section (Duty of local authority to assume parental rights and duties) shall be deemed to be a resolution under section 2 of the Children Act 1948 except that sections 2(2) to (7) and 4(3) of that Act shall not apply.").
§ Insert the following new clause:
§ Appeals by parents, etc.
§ (" .—(1) Subsections (2) to (5) and (7) of section 2 of the Children Act 1948 shall apply to a resolution under section (Transfer of parental rights and duties to voluntary organisations) as they apply to a resolution under the said section 2, with the substitution for the reference in subsection (2) to the vesting of parental rights and duties in the local authority of a reference to the vesting of parental rights and duties in the voluntary organisation.
§ (2) An appeal may be made—
- (a) where the complaint relates to a resolution under section (Transfer of parental rights and duties to voluntary organisations), by a person deprived of
1275 parental rights and duties by the resolution, or - (b) where the complaint relates to a resolution under section (Duty of local authority to assume parental rights and duties), by a person who but for that resolution and an earlier resolution under section (Transfer of parental rights and duties to voluntary organisations) would
- have parental rights and duties, to a juvenile court having jurisdiction in the area of the authority which passed there solution, on the ground that—
- (i) there was no ground for the making of the resolution, or
- (ii) that the resolution should in the interests of the child be determined.
§ (3) An appeal shall lie to the High Court against the decision of a juvenile court under this section.
§ (4) Section 4B of the Children Act 1948 shall apply in relation to proceedings under this section.'.")
§ 8.48 p.m.
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, with the permission of the House, I should like to move Amendments Nos 126 to 129, and take with them Amendments Nos. 305 and 306 as part of the discussion. These Amendments are being taken together because they are all concerned with new powers which have been added to the Bill to meet the wishes of voluntary child care organisations such as Dr. Barnardo's, the National Children's Home and others, which provide residential care. These organisations have long fell themselves to be handicapped in looking after children in their care by not being able to have powers comparable to these of local authorities under Section 2 of the Children Act 1948 which allow a local authority, on grounds specified in the Act, to assume by resolution parental rights and duties in respect of a child in the local authority's care. The new clauses will enable a local authority to pass a resolution in respect of a child in the care of a voluntary organisation on the same grounds as those in Section 2 of the 1948 Act.
The effect of the resolutions will be to transfer parental rights and duties in respect of the child to the voluntary organisation. The new provisions contain power for the local authority, by further resolution, to revest—that is a new word to me—in itself the parental rights and duties in respect of a child where it considers that the interests of the child require that the voluntary organisation should no longer have those rights and 1276 duties. The interests of the parents are protected by giving them rights of objection to the passing of a resolution and complaint to a juvenile court comparable to those in Sections 2 and 4 of the Children Act 1948. Amendments Nos. 305 and 306 are related Amendments to Schedule 3.
§ Moved, That this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendments.—(Lord Winterbottom.)
§ Lord SANDYSMy Lords, we have at earlier stages of the Bill welcomed these provisions. This affords some protection for the bodies referred to; that is, voluntary bodies and bodies with delegated powers by local authorities and local authorities themselves. This is a successful group of Amendments which should be welcomed.
§ Lord REDESDALEMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord, Lord Winterbottom, to clear up a point which has confused me in reading this block-buster of a new set of provisions that has come through? I refer to a passage in Amendment No. 127 which states:
(2) The local authority shall. within seven days of passing a resolution under subsection (1), by notice in writing inform the organisation and each parent, guardian or custodian of the child whose whereabouts are known to them that the resolution has been passed.')What confuses me is the fact that if the rights are being taken back in respect of the voluntary body, then the question of the custodian comes up because I believe that the custodian, if he is still a custodian, has parental rights. I find this rather confusing and I would be grateful if the noble Lord would enlighten us on this point.
§ Lord WINTERBOTTOMMy Lords, I should be grateful if the noble Lord will allow me to write to him on this subject. This is a jungle for me and I am lost in it. It is probably a perfectly clear statement if one is an expert, which I am not, and therefore, with his permission, I will write to him about it.