§ Mr. Lubbockasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will issue guidance to children's authorities about the use of the ward of court procedure to protect young girls from undesirable associations.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganNo. Local authorities are well aware of this procedure.
§ Mr. Lubbockasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy about the provision of residential accommodation for young girls in need of care and protection; and what amounts are contained in the estimates for this purpose in the year 1969–70.
§ Mr. CallaghanMy policy in relation to the approved schools, and that of local authorities in relation to children in their care, is to maintain a wide range of establishments, together with arrangements for observation and assessment, such that a child can be placed in the establishment best fitted to meet his or her individual needs and circumstances. At present there are legal obstacles to the full development of this policy, and their removal is an important objective of the Children and Young Persons Bill now before Parliament. Since establishments are not provided exclusively for girls who have been found by a juvenile court to be in need of care and protection, the cost of accommodating them cannot be separately calculated.
§ Mr. Lubbockasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to provide that local authorities who take out fit person orders in respect of young girls because of their association with men of bad record, should obtain injunctions against the men continuing to make contact with those girls rather than commit the girls to an institution wherever practicable.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganWhen a girl is committed by a juvenile court to the care of a local authority as a fit person, it is 149W the authority's duty, amongst others, to provide for the girl's accommodation and care in the manner which appears to it best suited to her individual needs and circumstances, taken as a whole. Only the responsible authority is in a position to judge whether, in a particular case, the needs of the child can best be met by seeking an injunction against third parties.
§ Mr. Lubbockasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases during 1968 young girls who were the subject of a fit person order were fostered, and in how many cases they were committed to an institution; and what is his policy on this matter.
§ Mr. Elystan MorganI regret that the returns from local authorities about children in care (Cmnd. 3893 of January, 1969) do not provide this information. There can be no general policy; it is for the responsible authority to judge, in the light of each girl's individual needs and circumstances, how best to provide for her accommodation.