HL Deb 08 November 1989 vol 512 cc892-8

376 Schedule 8, page 111, line 25, leave out paragraph 16.

377 Page 112, line 33, at end inset —

`17A. After that section there shall be inserted —

"Requirement for young offender to live in local authority accommodation.

12AA. —(1) Where the conditions mentioned in subsection (5) of this section are satisfied, a supervision order may impose a requirement ('a residence requirement') that a child or young person shall live for a specified period in local authority accommodation.

(2) A residence requirement shall designate the local authority who are to receive the child or young person and that authority shall be authority in whose area the child or young person resides.

(3) The court shall not impose a residence requirement without first consulting the designated authority.

(4) A residence requirement may stipulate that the child or young person shall not live with a named person.

(5) The maximum period which may be specified in a residence requirement is six months.

(6) The conditions are that —

  1. (a) a supervision order has previously been made in respect of the child or young person;
  2. (b) that order imposed —
    1. (i) a requirement under section 12A(3) of this Act; or
    2. (ii) a residence requirement;
  3. (c) he is found guilty of an offence which —
    1. (i) was committed while that order was in force;
    2. (ii) if it had been committed by a person over the age of twenty-one, would have been punishable with imprisonment; and
    3. (iii) in the opinion of the court is serious; and
  4. (d) the court is satisfied that the behaviour which constituted the offence was due, to a significant extent, to the circumstances in which he was living,
except that the condition in paragraph (d) of this subsection does not apply where the condition in paragraph (b)(ii) is satisfied.

(7) For the purposes of satisfying itself as mentioned in subsection (6)(d) of this section, the court shall obtain a social inquiry report which makes particular reference to the circumstances in which the child or young person was living.

(8) Subsection (7) of this section does not apply if the court already has before it a social inquiry report which contains sufficient information about the circumstances in which the child or young person was living.

(9) A court shall not include a residence requirement in respect of a child or young person who is not legally represented at the relevant time in that court unless —

  1. (a) he has applied for legal aid for the purposes of the proceedings and the application was refused on the ground that it did not appear that his resources were such that he required assistance; or
  2. (b) he has been informed of his right to apply for legal aid for the purposes of the proceedings and has had the opportunity to do so, but nevertheless refused or failed to apply.

(10) In subsection (9) of this section —

  1. (a) 'the relevant time' means the time when the court is considering whether or not to impose the requirement; and
  2. (b) 'the proceedings' means —
  1. (i) the whole proceedngs; or
  2. (ii) the part of the proceedings relating to the imposition of the requirement.

(11) A supervision order imposing a residence requirement may also impose any of the requirements mentioned in section 12, 12A, 12B or 12C of this Act.

(12) In this section 'social inquiry report' has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982".'.

378 Page 112, line 35, leave out 'subsection (4)' and insert `subsections (1Xa), (2A), (3)(e) and (4) after the word "12A", in each place where it occurs, there shall be inserted "12AA". (1A) In subsection (4) of that section'.

379 Page 112, line 47, at end insert — '(2A) In subsections (5)(b) and (c) and (6)(a) after the word "12A", in each place where it occurs, there shall be inserted "12AA".'.

19A. For section 23 of that Act (remand to care of local authorities etc.) there shall be substituted — Remand to local authority accommodation, committal of young persons of unruly character, etc.

23. —(1) Where a court —

  1. (a) remands or commits for trial a child charged with homicide or remands a child convicted of homicide; or
  2. (b) remands a young person charged with or convicted of one or more offences or commits him for trial or sentence, and he is not released on bail, then, unless he is a young person who is certified by the court to be of unruly character, the court shall remand him to local authority accommodation.

(2) A court remanding a person to local authority accommodation shall designate the authority who are to receive him and that authority shall be the authority in whose area it appears to the court that—

  1. (a) he resides; or
  2. (b) the offence or one of the offences was committed.

(3) Where a person is remanded to local authority accommodation, it shall be lawful for any person acting on behalf of the designated authority to detain him.

(4) The court shall not certify a young person as being of unruly character unless —

  1. (a) he cannot safely be remanded to local authority accommodation; and
  2. (b) the conditions prescribed by order made by the Secretary of State under this subsection are satisfied in relation to him.

(5) Where the court certifies that a young person is of unruly character, it shall commit him —

  1. (a) to a remand centre, if it has been notified that such a centre is available for the reception from the court of such persons; and
  2. (b) to a prison, if it has not been so notified.

(6) Where a young person is remanded to local authority accommodation, a court may, on the application of the designated authority, certify him to be of unruly character in accordance with subsection (4) of this section (and on so doing he small cease to be remanded to local authority accommodation and subsection (5) of this section shall apply).

(7) For the purposes of subsection (6) of this section, "a court" means —

  1. (a) the court which remanded the young person; or
  2. (b) any magistrates' court having jurisdiction in the place where that person is for the time being,
and in this section "court" and "magistrates' court" include a justice.

(8) This section has effect subject to —

  1. (a) section 37 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (committal to the Crown Court with a view to a sentence of detention in a young offender institution); and
  2. (b) section 128(7) of that Act (remands to the custody of a constable for periods of not more than three days),
but section 128(7) shall have effect in relation to a child or young person as if for the reference to three clear days there were substituted a reference to twenty-four hours."

19B. —(l) In section 32 of that Act (detention of absentees), for subsection (1A) there shall be substituted the following subsections— (1A) If a child or young person is absent, without the consent of the responsible person —

  1. (a) from a place of safety to which he has been taken under section 16(3) of this Act; or
  2. (b) from local authority accommodation —
  1. (i) in which he is required to live under sectionl2AA of this Act; or
  2. (ii) to which he has been remanded under section 23(1) of this Act,
he may be arrested by a constable anywhere in the United Kingdom or Channel Islands without a warrant.

(1B) A person so arrested shall be conducted to —

  1. (a) the place of safety;
  2. (b) the local authority accommodation; or
  3. (c) such other place as the responsible person may direct,
at the responsible person's expense.

(1C) In this section 'the responsible person' means the person who made the arrangements under section 16(3) of this Act or, as the case may be, the authority designated under section 12AA or 23 of this Act."

(2) In subsection (2B) of that section for the words "person referred to in subsection (1A)(a) or (b) (as the case may be) of this section" there shall be substituted "responsible person".

380 Page 112, line 49, after 'ages)', insert'— (a) in paragraph (a),'.

381 Page 112, line 50, at end insert '; and

(b) in paragraph (e) for the words "section 23(2) or (3)" there shall be substituted "section 23(4) to (6)".

20A. In section 70(1) of that Act (interpretation) —

(a) after the definition of "local authority" there shall be inserted —

"'local authority accommodation' means accommodation provided by or on behalf of a local authority (within the meaning of the Children Act 1989)"; and

(b) in the definition of "reside" for "12(4) and (5)" there shall be substituted "12B(1) and (2)".

20B. In section 73 of that Act (extent, etc.) —

  1. (a) in subsection (4Xa) for "32(1), (3) and (4)" there shall be substituted "32(1) to (1C) and (2A) to (4)"; and
  2. (b) in subsection (6) for "32(1), 1A" there shall be substituted "32(1) to (1C)".'.

382 Page 113, line 37, leave out second 'marriage' and insert 'family'.

383 Page 113, line 37, at end insert — '22A. In section 52(1) of that Act (interpretation), in the definition of "child of the family", for the words "has been boarded-out with those parties" there shall be substituted "is placed with those parties as foster parents".

The National Health Service Act 1977 (c.49)

22B. In Schedule 8 to the National Health Service Act 1977 (functions local social services authorities), the following sub-paragraph shall be added at the end of paragraph 2 — (4A) This paragraph does not apply in relation to persons under the age of 18.".

This Child Care Act 1980 (c.5)

22C. Until the repeal of the Child Care Act 1980 by this Act takes effect, the definition of "parent" in section 87 of that Act shall have effect as if it applied only in relation to Part I and sections 13, 24, 64 and 65 of that Act (provisions excluded by section 2(1)(f) of the Family Law Reform Act 1987 from the application of the general rule in that Act governing the meaning of references to relationships between persons).

The Education Act 1981 (c.60)

22D. The following section shall be inserted in the Education Act 1981, after section 3 —

"Provision outside England and Wales for certain children.

3A. —(1) A local authority may make such arrangements as they think fit to enable any child in respect of whom they maintain a statement under section 7 to attend an establishment outside England and Wales which specialises in providing for children with special needs.

(2) In subsection (1) above "children with special needs" means children who have particular needs which would be special educational needs if those children were in England and Wales.

(3) Where an authority make arrangements under this section with respect to a child, those arrangements may, in particular, include contributing to or paying —

  1. (a) fees charged by the establishment;
  2. (b) expenses reasonably incurred in maintaining him while he is at the establishment or travelling to or from it,
  3. (c) those travelling expenses;
  4. (d) expenses reasonably incurred by any person accompanying him while he is travelling or staying at the establishment.

(4) This section is not to be taken as in any way limiting any other powers of a local education authority."

The Child Abduction Act 1984 (c.37)

22E. —(1) Section 1 of the Child Abduction Act 1984 (offence of abduction by parent, etc.) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For subsections (2) to (4) there shall be substituted — (2) A person is connected with a child for the purposes of this section if —

  1. (a) he is a parent of the child; or
  2. (b) in the case of a child whose parents were not married to each other at the time of his birth, there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is the father of the child; or
  3. (c) he is a guardian of the child; or
  4. (d) he is a person in whose favour a residence order is in force with respect to the child; or
  5. (e) he has custody of the child.

(3) In this section 'the appropriate consent', in relation to a child, means —

  1. (a) the consent of each of the following —
    1. (i) the child's mother;
    2. (ii) the child's father, if he has parental responsibility for him;
    3. (iii) any guardian of the child;
    4. (iv) any person in whose favour a residence order is in force with respect to the child;
    5. (v) any person who has custody of the child; or
  2. (b) the leave of the court granted under or by virtue of any provision of Part II of the Children Act 1989; or
  3. (c) if any person has custody of the child, the leave of the court which awarded custody to him.

(4) A person does not commit an offence under this section by taking or sending a child out of the United Kingdom without obtaining the appropriate consent if —

  1. (a) he is a person in whose favour there is a residence order in force with respect to the child, and
  2. (b) he takes or sends him out of the United Kingdom for a period of less than one month.

(4A) Subsection (4) above does not apply if the person taking or sending the child out of the United Kingdom does so in breach of an order under Part II of the Children Act 1989."

(3) In subsection (5) for the words from "but" to the end there shall be substituted — (5A) Subsection (5Xc) above does not apply if —

  1. (a) the person who refused to consent is a person —
    1. (i) in whose favour there is a residence order in force with respect to the child; or
    2. (ii) who has custody of the child; or
  2. (b) the person taking or sending the child out of the United Kingdom is, by so acting, in breach of an order made by a court in the United Kingdom."

(4) For subsection (7) there shall be substituted — (7) For the purposes of this section —

  1. (a) 'guardian of a child', 'residence order' and 'parental responsibility' have the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989; and
    2. 897
  2. (b) a person shall be treated as having custody of a child if there is in force an order of a court in the United Kingdom awarding him (whether solely or jointly with another person) custody, legal custody or care and control of the child."

(5) In subsection (8) for the words from "or voluntary organisation" to "custodianship proceedings or" there shall be substituted "detained in a place of safety, remanded to a local authority accommodation or the subject of'.

22F. —(1) In section 2 of that Act (offence of abduction of child by other persons), in subsection (1) for the words from "Subject" to "above" there shall be substituted "Subject to subsection (3) below, a person, other than one mentioned in subsection (2) below.".

(2) For subsection (2) of that section there shall be substituted— (2) The persons are —

  1. (a) where the father and mother of the child in question were married to each other at the time of his birth, the child's father and mother;
  2. (b) where the father and mother of the child in question were not married to each other at the time of his birth, the child's father and mother;
  3. (c) any other person mentioned in section 1(2)(c) to (c) above.

(3) In proceedings against any person for an offence under this section, it shall be a defence for that person to prove —

  1. (a) where the father and mother of the child in question were not married to each other at the time of his birth —
    1. (i) that he is the child's father; or
    2. (ii) that, at the time of the alleged offence, he believed, on reasonable grounds, that he was the child's father; or
  2. (b) that, at the time of the alleged offence, he believed that the child had attained the age of sixteen."

22G. At the end of section 3 of that Act (construction of references to taking, sending and detaining) there shall be added "and

(d) references to a child's parents and to a child whose parents were (or were not) married to each other at the time of his birth shall be construed in accordance with section 1 of the Family Law Reform Act 1987 (which extends their meaning)."

22H. —(1) The Schedule to that Act (modifications of section 1 for children in certain cases) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph 1(1) for the words "or voluntary organisation" there shall be substituted "within the meaning of the Children Act 1989".

(3) For paragraph 2(1) there shall be substituted — (1) This paragraph applies in the case of a child who is—

  1. (a) detained in a place of safety under section 16(3) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969; or
  2. (b) remanded to a local authority accommodation under section 23 of that Act."

(4) In paragraph 3(1)—

  1. (a) in paragraph (a) for the words "section 14 of the Children Act 1975" there shall be substituted "section 18 of the Adoption Act 1976"; and
  2. (b) in paragraph (d) for the words "section 25 of the Children Act 1975 or section 53 of the Adoption Act 1958" there shall be substituted "section 55 of the Adoption Act 1976".

(5) In paragraph 3(2)(a) —

  1. (a) in sub-paragraph (i), for the words from "order or," to "Children Act 1975" there shall be substituted "section 18 order or, if the section 18 order has been varied under section 21 of that Act so as to give parental responsibility to another agency", and
    2. 898
  2. (b) in sub-paragraph (ii), for the words "(c) or (e)" there shall be substituted "or (c)".

(6) At the end of paragraph 3 there shall be added — (3) Sub-paragraph (2) above shall be construed as if the references to the court included, in any case where the court is a magistrates' court, a reference to any magistrates' court acting for the same area as that court".

(7) For paragraph 5 there shall be substituted — 5. In this Schedule —

  1. (a) 'adoption agency' and 'adoption order' have the same meaning as in the Adoption Act 1976; and
  2. (b) 'area', in relation to a magistrates' court, means the petty sessions area (within the meaning of the Justices of the Peace Act 1979) for which the court is appointed.".'

Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984 (c.56)

221. In section 1 of the Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984 (definition of foster child) —

  1. (a) for the words "he is- (a)" there shall be substituted "(a) he is"; and
  2. (b) the words "for a period of more than 6 days" and the words from "The period" to the end shall cease to have effect.

22J. In section 2(2) of that Act (exceptions to section 1), for paragraph (f) there shall be substituted —

"(f) if he has been in that person's car?: for a period of less than 28 days and that person does not intend to undertake his care for any longer period."

22K. In section 7(1) of that Act (persons disqualified from keeping foster children) —

  1. (a) the word "or" at the end of paragraph (e) shall be omitted; and
  2. (b) after paragraph (f) there shall be inserted "or

(g) he is disqualified from fostering a child privately (within the meaning of the Children Act 1989) by regulations made under section 57 of that Act,".'.

384 Page 113, line 43, at end insert —

The Legal Aid Act 1988 (c.34)

24. In paragraph 2 of Part I of Schedule 2 to the Legal Aid Act 1988 (proceedings in magistrates' courts to which the civil legal aid provisions of Part IV of the Act apply), the following sub-paragraph shall be added at the end — (g) proceedings under the Children Act 1989".'.

11 p.m.

The Lord Chancellor

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 376 to 384. I spoke to Amendments Nos. 376 to 378 with Amendment No. 233, to Amendments Nos. 379, 380 and 381 with Amendment No. 50, to Amendment No. 382 with Amendment No. 374, to Amendment No. 383 with Amendment No. 270 and to Amendment No. 384 with Amendment No. 238.

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

On Question, Motion agreed to.