Section 67: Commencement
259.Part 1, which establishes the Children’s Commissioner, section 59, the power to give financial assistance, and section 63, which allows disclosure of information by the Inland Revenue will come into force on Royal Assent.
260.Sections 45 to 47, which create the power to establish by regulations a registration scheme for private foster carers in England and Wales, section 49 which creates the power by order to make provision on payments to foster carers, and section 58 which restricts the use of the defence of reasonable chastisement, will come into force two months after Royal Assent.
261.The rest of the Act’s provisions will be brought into force on dates appointed by the Secretary of State or, where specified, by the National Assembly for Wales by commencement order. In particular:
Sections 25 and 31 will be commenced by the National Assembly for Wales except where their provisions relate to non-devolved bodies in which case they may only be commenced with the consent of the Secretary of State.
Section 28 will be commenced by the National Assembly for Wales insofar as its provisions relate to devolved bodies. Provisions relating to non-devolved bodies will be commenced by the Secretary of State after consulting the National Assembly for Wales.
Hansard References
262.The following table sets out the dates and Hansard references for each stage of this Act’s passage through Parliament.
| Stage | Date | Hansard Reference |
|---|---|---|
| House of Lords | ||
| Introduction | 3 March 2004 | Vol. 658 Cols. 657-8 |
| Second Reading | 30 March 2004 | Vol. 659 Cols. 1208-310 |
| Committee | 4 May 2004 6 May 2004 20 May 2004 24 May 2004 27 May 2004 | Vol. 660 Cols. 1036-96 Vol. 660 Cols. 1218-57, 1273-344 Vol. 661 Cols. 878-914, 925-1000 Vol. 661 Cols. 1052-124, 1137-86 Vol. 661 Cols. 1441-88, 1507-24 |
| Report | 17 June 2004 21 June 2004 22 June 2004 5 July 2004 | Vol. 662 Cols. 870-902, 922-1004 Vol. 662 Cols. 1013-30, 1043-76 Vol. 662 Cols. 1208-34 Vol. 663 Cols. 518-603 |
| Third Reading | 15 July 2004 | Vol. 663 Cols. 1414-97 |
| House of Commons | ||
| Introduction | 19 July 2004 | Bill 144 2003/4 |
| Second Reading | 13 Sept 2004 | Vol. 424 Cols. 1000-88 |
| Committee | 12 Oct 2004, 14 Oct 2004, 19 Oct 2004 and 21 Oct 2004 | Hansard Standing Committee B |
| Report and Third Reading | 2 Nov 2004 | Vol. 426 Cols. 173-281 |
| Lords Consideration of Commons Amendments | 10 Nov 2004 | Vol. 666 Cols. 993-1008 |
| Royal Assent–– 15 November 2004 | House of Lords Hansard Vol. 666, Col. 1185 |
| House of Commons Hansard Vol. 426, Col. 1009 |
