Children and Young Persons Act 1933/Part 5

Definition of voluntary homes. 92. In this Part of this Act the expression “voluntary home” means any home or other institution for the boarding, care, and maintenance of poor children or young persons, being a home or other institution supported wholly or partly by voluntary contributions, but does not include any institution, house, or home certified or approved by the Board of Control under the Mental Deficiency Acts, 1913 to 1927, unless children or young persons who are not mental defectives within the meaning of those Acts are received therein.

Notification of particulars with respect to voluntary homes. 93.—(1) It shall be the duty of the person in charge of any voluntary home to send the prescribed particulars with respect to the home to the Secretary of State within three months after the commencement of this Act, or in the case of a home established after the commencement of this Act within three months from the establishment ​of the home and to send such particulars in every subsequent year before such date as may be prescribed.

(2) If default is made in sending the prescribed particulars with respect to any voluntary home in accordance with the requirements of this section, the person in charge of the home shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds and to a further fine not exceeding twenty shillings in respect of each day during which the default continues after conviction.

Inspection of voluntary homes. 94.—(1) The Secretary of State may cause any voluntary home to be inspected from time to time, unless the home is one which is, as a whole, otherwise subject to inspection by, or under the authority of, a Government department.

(2) The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the council of any county, county borough, or county district, appoint officers of that council to conduct inspections under this section on his behalf.

(3) Any person appointed by the Secretary of State to inspect any voluntary home shall have power to enter the home and to make such examinations into the state and management thereof and the condition and treatment of the children and young persons therein as he thinks requisite, and any person who obstructs him in the execution of his duties shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five pounds, and a refusal to allow a person so appointed to enter the home shall, for the purposes of section forty of this Act (which relates to search warrants) be deemed to be a reasonable cause to suspect that a child or young person in the home is being neglected in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to health.

Control over voluntary homes. 95.—(1) If the Secretary of State is satisfied that the management of any voluntary home, or the accommodation provided for, or the treatment of, the children and young persons therein, is such as to endanger their welfare, he may serve upon the persons responsible for the management of the home such general or special directions with respect to the matters aforesaid, or any of them, as he thinks expedient for the welfare of the children and young persons in the home.

​A direction under this subsection—

(a) may be served on the persons responsible for the management of a home by being delivered personally to any one of them, or by being sent, by post or otherwise, in a letter addressed to them or any of them at the home;

(b) may be varied by a subsequent direction, or withdrawn by the Secretary of State.

(2) Where any such direction is not complied with, a court of summary jurisdiction having jurisdiction in the place where the home is situate may, on the complaint of any person appointed for the purpose by the Secretary of State, cause a summons to be served upon the person in charge of the home and upon such other persons as the court may direct, and upon the hearing of the summons may, if the court thinks fit, make an order for the removal of all children and young persons from the home:

Provided that—

(a) such an order shall not be made unless the court is satisfied that the welfare of some of the children or young persons is endangered;

(b) the court may, if it thinks fit, order that the direction shall be deemed to be modified to such extent as may be specified in the order and the direction shall have effect accordingly.

(3) An order for the removal of all children and young persons from a voluntary home shall operate as an authority to any person named in the order, and to any constable, to enter the home and to remove the children and young persons therein to a place of safety; and where any persons are so removed, it shall be the duty of the local authority to maintain them in a place of safety until they can be restored to their relatives, or until other arrangements have been made with respect to them.

(4) Where an order has been made for the removal of all children and young persons from a voluntary home, the home shall not be used for the reception of children or young persons without the consent of the Secretary of State, and any person who knowingly ​permits it to be so used shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five pounds and to a further fine not exceeding twenty shillings in respect of each day during which the user continues after conviction.