§ 52. Lord Balnielasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that a foster parent may foster one child after another for periods of less than one month at a time and so escape the provisions of notification required under Section 3 of the Children Act, 1958; and what steps he is taking to remedy this anomaly.
§ Miss BaconThere are good practical reasons for limiting these provisions to children fostered for more than a month, but if the hon. Member has evidence that might justify widening them, I hope he will send it to me.
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§ Lord Balnielasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will seek to amend Section 3(1) of the Children Act, 1958, which provides that a person who proposes to maintain a foster child must give written notice to the local authority before receiving the child, so as to ensure that the person who yields up the child shall also have to give written notice.
§ Miss BaconMy right hon. and learned Friend has some doubt whether such an extension of the law would be efficacious, but he has noted this suggestion for future consideration.
§ Lord Balnielasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he is aware that there is some evasion of the law which provides that a person who proposes to maintain a foster child must give written notice to the local authority two weeks before receiving the child; and what steps he is taking to secure compliance with the law.
§ Miss BaconMy right hon. and learned Friend recognises that the requirement to give written notice may not be generally known. Local authorities are responsible for giving necessary local publicity, and the Home Office has arranged for broadcasts to be made during the "Government announcements" period and for the production of a poster which has been widely distributed. The most effective way of securing compliance with the law is for local authorities to bring prosecutions in suitable cases.