§ 43. Mr. Carlisleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether she will conduct an inquiry into the case of the 14–year-old girl, details of which are in her possession, who appeared before the Lewisham Juvenile Court on Thursday 9th May, and who has been in the care of Southwark Borough Council since January 1973 because no place could be found for her at a community home.
§ Dr. OwenThe children's regional planning committee consisting of London local authorities, which is responsible by statute for planning the provision of community homes on a regional basis for children in the care of those authorities, has accepted an invitation to meet me on 20th June to discuss, among other things, the arrangements for placing such children. A special inquiry into this individual case where the facts are known would not, in my view, be helpful and I am well aware of the difficulties experienced by the borough council in the case referred to by the hon. and learned Gentleman.