PART I. -cont.

the Poor Law (Scotland) Act, 1934, or the Children and Young 24 & 25 Geo. 5. Persons (Scotland) Act, 1937, by a local authority or education authority shall be disregarded.

c. 52.

I Edw. 8 &

I Geo. 6. c. 37.

Assumption by

2.-(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, a local authority local authority may resolve with respect to any child in their care under the foregoing section in whose case it appears to them

of parental

rights.

(a) that his parents are dead and that he has no guardian;

or

(b) that a parent or guardian of his (hereinafter referred to as the person on whose account the resolution was passed) has abandoned him or suffers from some permanent disability rendering the said person incapable of caring for the child, or is of such habits or mode of life as to be unfit to have the care of the child,

that all the rights and powers which the deceased parents would have if they were still living, or, as the case may be, all the rights and powers of the person on whose account the resolution was passed, shall vest in the local authority.

(2) In the case of a resolution passed by virtue of paragraph (b) of the last foregoing subsection, unless the person on whose account the resolution was passed has consented in writing to the passing of the resolution, the local authority, if the whereabouts of the said person are known to them, shall forthwith after the passing of the resolution serve on him notice in writing of the passing thereof; and if, not later than one month after such a notice is served on him, the person whose account the resolution was passed serves a notice in writing on the local authority objecting to the resolution, the resolution shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, lapse on the expiration of fourteen days from the service of the notice of objection.

Every notice served by a local authority under this subsection shall inform the person on whom the notice is served of his right to object to the resolution and of the effect of any objection made by him.

(3) Where a notice has been served on a local authority under subsection (2) of this section, the authority may not later than fourteen days from the receipt by them of the notice complain to a juvenile court, or in Scotland the sheriff, having jurisdiction in the area of the authority, and in that event the resolution shall not lapse by reason of the service of the notice until the determination of the complaint, and the court or sheriff may, on the hearing of the complaint, order

that the resolution shall not lapse by reason of the service of the notice:

Provided that the court or sheriff shall not so order unless satisfied that the child had been, and at the time when the resolution was passed remained, abandoned by the person who made the objection or that that person is unfit to have the care of the child by reason of unsoundness of mind or mental deficiency or by reason of his habits or mode of life.

(4) Any notice under this section may be served by post, so however that a notice served by a local authority under subsection (2) of this section shall not be duly served by post unless it is sent in a registered letter.

PART I

- nont.

3.-(1) While a resolution passed by virtue of paragraph Effect of (a) of subsection (1) of section two of this Act is assumption in force with respect to a child, all rights and powers which the by local authority of deceased parents would have if they were still living shall, in parental respect of the child, be vested in the local authority in rights. accordance with the resolution.

(2) While a resolution passed by virtue of paragraph (b) of the said subsection (1) is in force with respect to a child, all rights and powers of the person on whose account the resolution was passed shall, in respect of the child, be vested in the local authority in accordance with the resolution, and subsection (3) of section one of this Act shall not in respect of the child apply in relation to the person on whose account the resolution was passed.

(3) A resolution under section two of this Act shall not prevent the local authority from allowing, either for a fixed period or until the local authority otherwise determine, the care of the child to be taken over by, and the child to be under the control of, a parent, guardian, relative or friend in any case where it appears to the authority to be for the benefit of the child.

(4) Where a resolution under section two of this Act is in force in respect of a child and the child has ceased to be in the care of the local authority by whom the resolution was passed, then (without prejudice to the provisions of section one of this Act if those provisions apply) the local authority by whom the resolution was passed shall have power to receive the child back into their care in any circumstances in which it appears to them that their intervention under this subsection is necessary in the interests of the welfare of the child.

(5) Where a local authority receive a child into their care under the last foregoing subsection, the provisions of this Act, except subsections (4) and (5) of section one thereof, shall apply as if the child had been received into their care under the said section one.

PART I. -cont.

Duration and rescission of resolutions under section two.

(6) A resolution under the said section two shall not relieve any person from any liability to maintain, or contribute to the maintenance of, the child.

(7) A resolution under the said section two shall not authorise a local authority to cause a child to be brought up in any religious creed other than that in which he would have been brought up but for the resolution.

(8) Any person who knowingly

(a) assists or induces or persistently attempts to induce a child to whom this subsection applies to run away,

or

(b) harbours or conceals a child to whom this subsection applies who has run away, or prevents him from returning to the place from which he has run away, shall on summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two months, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

This subsection applies to any child in the care of a local authority under section one of this Act in whose case a resolution is in force under section two thereof, being a child for whom accommodation (whether in a home or otherwise) is being provided by the local authority in pursuance of Part II of this Act, and references in this subsection to running away shall be construed as references to running away from a place where accommodation is or was being so provided.

4. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, a resolution under section two of this Act shall continue in force until the child with respect to whom it was passed attains the age of eighteen.

(2) A resolution under the said section two may be rescinded by resolution of the local authority if it appears to them that the rescinding of the resolution will be for the benefit of the child.

(3) On complaint being made

(a) in the case of a resolution passed by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of the said section two, by a person claiming to be a parent or guardian of the child;

(b) in the case of a resolution passed by virtue of paragraph (b) thereof, by the person on whose account the resolution was passed,

a juvenile court, or in Scotland the sheriff, having jurisdiction where the complainant resides, if satisfied that there was no

ground for the making of the resolution or that the resolution should in the interests of the child be determined, may by order determine the resolution, and the resolution shall thereupon cease to have effect:

Provided that, if the court or sheriff think fit, they or he may, in lieu of determining the resolution, order that, either for a fixed period or until they or he, or, if the order so provides, the local authority, otherwise direct, the local authority shall allow the care of the child to be taken over by, and the child to be under the control of, the complainant.

PART I.

-cont.

person

under

5.—(1) In any case where, under the Children and Young Duty of local Persons Act, 1933, a court has power to commit a person authority to brought before the court to the care of a fit person, the act as fit assent of a local authority shall not be required for the the Children making by the court of an order committing him to the care and Young of the authority unless a probation order or supervision order Persons Acts. is in force or the court proposes to make such an order at the same time as the order committing the child to the care of the authority, and accordingly the following subsections shall be substituted for subsection (1) of section seventy-six of that Act:

(1) The appropriate local authority shall, for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to the making of orders committing a child or young person to the care of a fit person, be deemed to be a fit person willing to undertake the care of him, and accordingly orders may be made committing children and young persons to their care, and they shall undertake the care of children and young persons so committed:

Provided that where a probation order or supervision order is in force as respects a child or young person, or the court proposes to make such an order at the same time as an order for committal to the care of the local authority, the last-mentioned order shall not be made unless the local authority consent to the making thereof.

(IA) Before making an order under the last foregoing subsection in any case where the consent of the local authority is not required, the court shall, unless so to do would in the opinion of the court cause undue delay, permit the authority to make representations to the court as to the making of the order and shall, before making the order, consider any representations so made.

(IB) In this section the expression the appropriate local authority' means the local authority in whose area the child or young person was resident, or, if his residence is not known or he was resident outside England, the local authority or one of the local authorities within whose area

PART I. -cont.

Application

of preceding provisions to children already subject, or becoming subject, to orders of court.

the offence was committed or the circumstances arose (as the case may be) rendering him liable to be committed to the care of a fit person:

Provided that in determining for the purposes of this subsection the place of residence of a child or young person, any period during which he resided in any place as an inmate of a school or other institution, or in accordance with the requirements of a supervision order or probation order or the conditions of a recognisance, or while boarded out under this Act, the Poor Law Act, 1930, the Poor Law (Scotland) Act, 1934, the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act, 1937, or Part II of the Children Act, 1948, by a local authority or education authority shall be disregarded."

(2) In the application of this section to Scotland, for references to the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, and section seventy-six thereof, there shall be substituted references to the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act, 1937 and section eighty thereof, for the reference to the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act, 1937, there shall be substituted a reference to the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, and for the word "England there shall be substituted the word "Scotland."

6. (1) The reception of a child into their care by a local authority under section one of this Act, and the passing of a resolution with respect to him under section two of this Act, shall not affect any supervision order or probation order previously made with respect to him by any court.

(2) Where an order of any court is in force giving the custody of a child to any person, the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act shall have effect in relation to the child as if for references to the parents or guardian of the child or to a parent or guardian of his there were substituted references to that person.

(3) The following provisions shall have effect with respect to approved school orders and orders under the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, or the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act, 1937, committing children to the care of fit persons, that is to say:

(a) where an approved school order comes into force with respect to a child in the care of a local authority under section one of this Act he shall thereupon cease to be in the care of the authority under that section and any resolution under section two of this Act in force with respect to him shall thereupon cease to have effect;