§ Mr. Forresterasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he proposes to start bringing the Children and young Persons Act into force in England and Wales.
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§ Mr. CallaghanI propose shortly to publish a commencement order bringing into force on 1st December, 1969 the provisions on children's regional planning committees and the new system of community homes in sections 35 to 50 and Schedule 2, and the related provisions in Schedules 3 to 6, and most of the general and supplementary provisions in Part III. This will enable planning of the community homes system to start as soon as possible. The order will also bring into force on 1st January, 1970 sections 51 to 57 and the related Schedule provisions, which strengthen the law on private fostering.
It is my intention to bring into force on 1st October, 1970 most of the remaining provisions of the Act. These will include the new definition of "care and control ", the new code of supervision and the replacement of approved school orders and fit persons orders by care orders, but will not initially include the provisions in sections 4, 5 and 7(1) affecting the prosecution of children and young persons and the minimum age for borstal training. I shall at the same time specify the tenth birthday as the age below which the local authority will normally be responsible for supervising a child under a supervision order and for providing the courts with information on a child's home surroundings.