55. Mr. Compton Carrasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he is giving to the future ownership and use of the children's homes, remand homes and approved schools in London.
§ Mr. BrookeIf the London Government Bill becomes law, I expect that the new London boroughs will wish to provide as soon as possible sufficient children's homes and nurseries under their own control to meet the needs of the children in their care. Initially, of course, the existing accommodation will have to be used, and arrangements will 223W therefore need to be made for allocating it to the new boroughs, or for its joint use. It is common for remand homes to serve more than one authority; these, and possibly also other specialist establishments such as reception centres, will need to be shared.
A working party consisting of officers of the Home Office and of the existing local authorities and local government associations concerned who are willing to co-operate has already been set up to give consideration to these matters in detail with the idea of preparing draft proposals that may provide the basis for consultation with the existing and new authorities in due course. I understand that, as a preparatory step, officers of the county councils concerned, other than the London County Council, have entered upon preliminary discussions with officers of the existing borough and district councils in their areas; and I welcome this.
Approved schools do not present the same problem as child care establishments, because they normally serve a wider area than that of a single local authority, and places in them are allocated through the classifying machinery. The future of each of the schools will call for separate examination in due course.