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66. Privately fostered children
67. Welfare of privately fostered children
68. Persons disqualified from being private foster parents.
69. Power to prohibit private fostering.
70. Offences.
PART IX PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS
FOR FOSTERING CHILDREN
66 Privately fostered children <Back to Top>
(1) In this Part—
(a) “a privately
fostered child” means a child who is under the age of sixteen and who is cared
for, and provided with accommodation [F1in their own home] by, someone other
than—
(i) a parent of his;
(ii) a person who is not
a parent of his but who has parental responsibility for him; or
(iii) a relative of his;
and
(b) “to foster a child
privately” means to look after the child in circumstances in which he is a
privately fostered child as defined by this section.
(2) A child is not privately fostered child if
the person caring for and accommodating him—
(a) has done so for a
period a period of less than 28 days; and
(b) does not intend to
do so for any longer period.
(3) Subsection (1) is subject to —
(a) the provisions of
section 63; and
(b) the exceptions made
by paragraph 1 to 5 of Schedule 8.
(4) In the case of a child who is disabled,
subsection (1)(a) shall have effect as if for
“sixteen” there were substituted “eighteen”.
(4A) The Secretary of State may by regulations make
provision as to the circumstances in which a person who provides accommodation
to a child is, or is not, to be treated as providing him with accommodation in
the person’s own home.
(5) Schedule 8 shall have effect for the
purposes of supplementing the provision made by this Part.
67 Welfare of privately fostered children <Back to Top>
(1) It shall be the duty of every local
authority to satisfy themselves that the welfare of children who are or are
proposed to be privately fostered within their area is being or will be
satisfactorily safeguarded and promoted and to secure that such advice is given
to those concerned with them as appears to the authority to be needed.
(2) The Secretary of State may make
regulations—
(a) requiring every
child who is privately fostered within a local authority’s area to be visited
by an officer of the authority—
(i) in prescribed circumstances; and
(ii) on specified
occasions or within specified periods; and
(b) imposing
requirements which are to be met by any local authority, or officer of a local
authority, in carrying out functions under this section.
(2A) Regulations under subsection (2)(b) may
impose requirements as to the action to be taken by a local authority for the
purposes of discharging their duty under subsection (1) where they have
received notification of a proposal that a child be privately fostered.
(3) Where any person who is authorised by a local authority to visit for the purpose
has reasonable cause to believe that—
(a) any privately
fostered child is being accommodated in premises within the authority’s area;
or
(b) it is proposed to
accommodate any such child in any such premises,
he may
at any reasonable time inspect those premises and any children there.
(4) Any person exercising the power under
subsection (3) shall, if so required, produce some duly authenticated document
showing his authority to do so.
(5) Where a local authority are not satisfied
that the welfare of any child who is [F8or is proposed to be] privately
fostered within their area is being [F9or will be] satisfactorily safeguarded
or promoted they shall—
(a) unless they consider
that it would not be in the best interests of the child, take such steps as are
reasonably practicable to secure that the care and accommodation of the child
is undertaken by—
(i) a parent of his;
(ii) any person who is
not a parent of his but who has parental responsibility for him; or
(iii) a relative of his;
and
(b) consider the extent
to which (if at all) they should exercise any of their functions under this Act
with respect to the child.
(6) The Secretary of State may make
regulations requiring a local authority to monitor the way in which the authority discharge their functions under this Part (and the
regulations may in particular require the authority to appoint an officer for
that purpose).
68 Persons disqualified from being private foster parents <Back to Top>
(1) Unless he has disclosed the fact to the appropriate
local authority and obtained their written consent, a person shall not foster a
child privately if he is disqualified from doing so by regulations made by the
Secretary of State for the purposes of this section.
(2) The regulations may, in particular,
provide for a person to be so disqualified where—
(a) an order of a kind
specified in the regulations has been made at any time with respect to him;
(b) an order of a kind
so specified has been made at any time with respect to any child who has been
in his care;
(c) a requirement of a
kind so specified has been imposed at any time with respect to any such child,
under or by virtue of any enactment;
(d) he has been
convicted of any offence of a kind so specified, orF11... discharged absolutely
or conditionally for any such offence;
(e) a prohibition has
been imposed on him at any time under section 69 or under any other specified
enactment;
(f) his rights and
powers with respect to a child have at any time been vested in a specified
authority under a specified enactment.
(2A) A conviction in respect of which a probation
order was made before 1st October 1992 (which would not otherwise be treated as
a conviction) is to be treated as a conviction for the purposes of subsection
(2)(d).
(3) Unless he has disclosed the fact to the
appropriate local authority and obtained their written consent, a person shall
not foster a child privately if—
(a) he lives in the
same household as a person who is himself prevented from fostering a child by
subsection (1); or
(b) he lives in a
household at which any such person is employed.
(3A) A person shall not
foster a child privately if—
(a) he is barred from
regulated activity relating to children (within the meaning of section 3(2) of
the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006); or
(b) he lives in the same
household as a person who is barred from such activity.]
(4) Where an authority
refuse to give their consent under this section, they shall inform the
applicant by a written notice which states—
(a) the reason for the
refusal;
(b) the applicant’s
right under paragraph 8 of Schedule 8 to appeal against the refusal; and
(c) the time within
which he may do so.
(5) In this section—
“the appropriate authority” means the local authority within whose
area it is proposed to foster the child in question; and
“enactment” means any enactment having effect, at any time,
in any part of the United Kingdom.
69 Power to prohibit private fostering <Back to Top>
(1) This section applies where a person—
(a) proposes to foster
a child privately; or
(b) is fostering a child
privately.
(2) Where the local authority for the area
within which the child is proposed to be, or is being, fostered are of the
opinion that—
(a) he is not a
suitable person to foster a child;
(b) the premises in
which the child will be, or is being, accommodated are not suitable; or
(c) it would be
prejudicial to the welfare of the child for him to be, or continue to be
accommodated by that person in those premises,
the
authority may impose a prohibition on him under subsection (3).
(3) A prohibition imposed on any person under
this subsection may prohibit him from fostering privately—
(a) any child in any
premises within the area of the local authority; or
(b) any child in
premises specified in the prohibition.
(c) a child identified
in the prohibition, in premises specified in the prohibition.
(4) A local authority who have imposed a
prohibition on any person under subsection (3) may, if they think fit, cancel
the prohibition—
(a) of their own
motion; or
(b) on an application
made by that person,
if
they are satisfied that the prohibition is no longer justified.
(5) Where a local authority
impose a requirement on any person under paragraph 6 of Schedule 8, they
may also impose a prohibition on him under subsection (3).
(6) Any prohibition imposed by virtue of
subsection (5) shall not have effect unless—
(a) the time specified
for compliance with the requirement has expired; and
(b) the requirement has
not been compiled with.
(7) A prohibition imposed under this section
shall be imposed by notice in writing addressed to the person on whom it is
imposed and informing him of—
(a) the reason for
imposing the prohibition;
(b) his right under
paragraph 8 of Schedule 8 to appeal against the prohibition; and
(c) the time within
which he may do so.
70 Offences <Back to Top>
(1) A person shall be guilty of an offence if—
(a) being required,
under any provision made by or under this Part, to give any notice or
information—
(i) he fails without reasonable excuse to give the notice within
the time specified in that provision; or
(ii) he fails without reasonable
excuse to give the information within a reasonable time; or
(iii) he makes, or
causes or procures another person to make, any statement in the notice or
information which he knows to be false or misleading in a material particular;
(b) he refuses to allow
a privately fostered child to be visited by a duly authorised
officer of a local authority;
(c) he intentionally
obstructs another in the exercise of the power conferred by section 67(3);
(d) he contravenes
section 68;
(e) he fails without
reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement imposed by a local authority
under this Part;
(f) he accommodates a
privately fostered child in any premises in contravention of a prohibition
imposed by a local authority under this Part;
(g) he knowingly causes
to be published, or publishes, an advertisement which he knows contravenes
paragraph 10 of Schedule 8.
(2) Where a person contravenes section 68(3),
he shall not be guilty of an offence under this section if he proves that he
did not know, and had no reasonable ground for believing, that any person to whom section 68(1) applied was living or employed in the
premises in question.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under
subsection (1)(a) shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under
subsection (1)(b), (c) or (g) shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under
subsection (1)(d) or (f) shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the
standard scale, or to both.
(6) A person guilty of an offence under
subsection (1)(e) shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
(7) If any person who is required, under any
provision of this Part, to give a notice fails to give the notice within the
time specified in that provision, proceedings for the offence may be brought at
any time within six months from the date when evidence of the offence came to
the knowledge of the local authority.
(8) Subsection (7) is not affected by anything
in section 127(1) of the M1Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (time limit for
proceedings).
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