Children and Families Bill (HL Bill 59)

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Explanatory notes to the Bill, prepared by the Department for Education, the Ministry
of Justice and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, are published
separately as HL Bill 32—EN.

EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Lord Nash has made the following statement under section 19(1)(a) of the Human
Rights Act 1998:

In my view the provisions of the Children and Families Bill are compatible with the
Convention rights.

Contents

  1. Part 1

    Adoption and children looked after by local authorities

    1. Adoption

      1. 1. Placement of looked after children with prospective adopters

      2. 2. Repeal of requirement to give due consideration to ethnicity: England

      3. 3. Recruitment, assessment and approval of prospective adopters

      4. 4. Adoption support services: personal budgets

      5. 5. Adoption support services: duty to provide information

      6. 6. The Adoption and Children Act Register

    2. Contact

      1. 7. Contact: children in care of local authorities

      2. 8. Contact: post-adoption

    3. Promotion of educational achievement of children looked after by local authorities

      1. 9. Promotion of educational achievement of children looked after by local
        authorities

  2. Part 2

    Family justice

    1. 10. Family mediation information and assessment meetings

    2. 11. Welfare of the child: parental involvement

    3. 12. Child arrangements orders

    4. 13. Control of expert evidence, and of assessments, in children proceedings

    5. 14. Care, supervision and other family proceedings: time limits and timetables

    6. 15. Care plans

    7. 16. Care proceedings and care plans: regulations: procedural requirements

    8. 17. Repeal of restrictions on divorce and dissolution etc where there are children

    9. 18. Repeal of uncommenced provisions of Part 2 of the Family Law Act 1996

  3. Part 3

    Children and young people in England with special educational needs

    1. Local authority functions: general principles

      1. 19. Local authority functions: supporting and involving children and young
        people

    2. Special educational needs etc

      1. 20. When a child or young person has special educational needs

      2. 21. Special educational provision, health care provision and social care provision

    3. Children and young people for whom a local authority is responsible

      1. 22. Identifying children and young people with special educational needs

      2. 23. When a local authority is responsible for a child or young person

      3. 24. Duty of health bodies to bring certain children to local authority’s attention

    4. Education, health and care provision: integration and joint commissioning

      1. 25. Promoting integration

      2. 26. Joint commissioning arrangements

    5. Review of education and care provision

      1. 27. Duty to keep education and care provision under review

    6. Co-operation and assistance

      1. 28. Co-operating generally: local authority functions

      2. 29. Co-operating generally: governing body functions

    7. Information and advice

      1. 30. Local offer for children and young people with special educational needs

      2. 31. Co-operating in specific cases: local authority functions

      3. 32. Advice and information for parents and young people

    8. Mainstream education

      1. 33. Children and young people with EHC plans

      2. 34. Children and young people with special educational needs but no EHC plan

      3. 35. Children with SEN in maintained nurseries and mainstream schools

    9. Assessment

      1. 36. Assessment of education, health and care needs

    10. Education, health and care plans

      1. 37. Education, health and care plans

      2. 38. Preparation of EHC plans: draft plan

      3. 39. Finalising EHC plans: request for particular school or other institution

      4. 40. Finalising EHC plans: no request for particular school or other institution

      5. 41. Independent special schools and special post-16 institutions: approval

      6. 42. Duty to secure special educational provision and health care provision in
        accordance with EHC Plan

      7. 43. Schools and other institutions named in EHC plan: duty to admit

      8. 44. Reviews and re-assessments

      9. 45. Ceasing to maintain an EHC plan

      10. 46. Maintaining an EHC plan after young person’s 25th birthday

      11. 47. Transfer of EHC plans

      12. 48. Release of child or young person for whom EHC plan previously maintained

      13. 49. Personal budgets and direct payments

      14. 50. Continuation of services under section 17 of the Children Act 1989

    11. Appeals, mediation and dispute resolution

      1. 51. Appeals

      2. 52. Mediation

      3. 53. Resolution of disagreements

      4. 54. Appeals and claims by children: pilot schemes

      5. 55. Appeals and claims by children: follow-up provision

      6. 56. Equality Act 2010: claims against schools by disabled young people

    12. Special educational provision: functions of local authorities

      1. 57. Special educational provision otherwise than in schools, post-16 institutions
        etc

      2. 58. Special educational provision outside England and Wales

      3. 59. Fees for special educational provision at non-maintained schools and post-16
        institutions

      4. 60. Supply of goods and services

      5. 61. Access to schools, post-16 institutions and other institutions

    13. Special educational provision: functions of governing bodies and others

      1. 62. Using best endeavours to secure special educational provision

      2. 63. SEN co-ordinators

      3. 64. Informing parents and young people

      4. 65. SEN information report

    14. Information to improve well-being of children and young people with SEN

      1. 66. Provision and publication of special needs information

    15. Code of practice

      1. 67. Code of practice

      2. 68. Making and approval of code

    16. Supplementary

      1. 69. Parents and young people lacking capacity

      2. 70. Part does not apply to detained children and young people

      3. 71. Disapplication of Chapter 1 of Part 4 of EA 1996 in relation to children in
        England

      4. 72. Consequential amendments

      5. 73. Interpretation of Part 3

  4. Part 4

    Childcare etc

    1. 74. Childminder agencies

    2. 75. Inspections at request of providers of childcare to young children

    3. 76. Repeal of local authority’s duty to assess sufficiency of childcare provision

    4. 77. Discharge of authority’s duty to secure free early years provision

    5. 78. Governing bodies: provision of community facilities

    6. 79. Childcare costs scheme: preparatory expenditure

  5. Part 5

    Welfare of children

    1. 80. Young carers

    2. 81. Duty to support pupils with medical conditions

    3. 82. Local authority functions relating to children etc: intervention

    4. 83. Objectives and standards for establishments and agencies in England

    5. 84. National minimum standards for establishments and agencies in England

    6. 85. Disqualification from carrying on, or being employed in, a children’s home

  6. Part 6

    The Children’s Commissioner

    1. 86. Primary function of the Children’s Commissioner

    2. 87. Provision by Commissioner of advice and assistance to certain children

    3. 88. Commissioner’s powers to enter premises

    4. 89. Provision of information to Commissioner

    5. 90. Advisory board

    6. 91. Business plans

    7. 92. Annual reports

    8. 93. Children living away from home or receiving social care

    9. 94. Children’s Commissioner: minor and consequential amendments

    10. 95. Repeal of requirement to appoint Children’s Rights Director

  7. Part 7

    Statutory rights to leave and pay

    1. Shared parental leave

      1. 96. Shared parental leave

      2. 97. Exclusion or curtailment of other statutory rights to leave

    2. Statutory shared parental pay

      1. 98. Statutory shared parental pay

      2. 99. Exclusion or curtailment of other statutory rights to pay

    3. Other statutory rights

      1. 100. Statutory rights to leave and pay of prospective adopters with whom looked
        after children are placed

      2. 101. Statutory rights to leave and pay of applicants for parental orders

      3. 102. Statutory paternity pay: notice requirement and period of payment

      4. 103. Rate of statutory adoption pay

      5. 104. Abolition of additional paternity leave and additional statutory paternity pay

    4. Further amendments

      1. 105. Further amendments

  8. Part 8

    Time off work: ante-natal care etc

    1. 106. Time off work to accompany to ante-natal appointments

    2. 107. Time off work to attend adoption appointments

    3. 108. Right not to be subjected to detriment: agency workers

    4. 109. Time off work for ante-natal care: increased amount of award

  9. Part 9

    Right to request flexible working

    1. 110. Removal of requirement to be a carer

    2. 111. Dealing with applications

    3. 112. Complaints to employment tribunals

    4. 113. Review of sections 110 to 112

  10. Part 10

    General provisions

    1. 114. Orders and regulations

    2. 115. Consequential amendments, repeals and revocations

    3. 116. Transitional, transitory or saving provision

    4. 117. Financial provision

    5. 118. Commencement

    6. 119. Short title and extent

    1. Schedule 1

      The Adoption and Children Act Register

    2. Schedule 2

      Child arrangements orders: amendments

      1. Part 1

        Amendments of the Children Act 1989

      2. Part 2

        Amendments in other legislation

    3. Schedule 3

      Special educational needs: consequential amendments

      1. Part 1

        Amendments to the Education Act 1996

      2. Part 2

        Amendments to other Acts

    4. Schedule 4

      Childminder agencies: amendments

      1. Part 1

        The childcare registers

      2. Part 2

        Early years childminder agencies

      3. Part 3

        Later years childminder agencies

      4. Part 4

        Voluntary registration with childminder agency

      5. Part 5

        Provisions applying in relation to all childminder agencies

      6. Part 6

        Other amendments

    5. Schedule 5

      Children’s Commissioner: minor and consequential
      amendments

    6. Schedule 6

      Repeal of requirement to appoint Children’s Rights Director:
      transfer schemes

    7. Schedule 7

      Statutory rights to leave and pay: further amendments