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Children Act 2004

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.

StageDateHansard Reference
House of Lords
Introduction3 March 2004Vol. 658 Cols. 657-8
Second Reading30 March 2004Vol. 659 Cols. 1208-310
Committee4 May 2004Vol. 660 Cols. 1036-96
6 May 2004Vol. 660 Cols. 1218-57, 1273-344
20 May 2004Vol. 661 Cols. 878-914, 925-1000
24 May 2004Vol. 661 Cols. 1052-124, 1137-86
27 May 2004Vol. 661 Cols. 1441-88, 1507-24
Report17 June 2004Vol. 662 Cols. 870-902, 922-1004
21 June 2004Vol. 662 Cols. 1013-30, 1043-76
22 June 2004Vol. 662 Cols. 1208-34
5 July 2004Vol. 663 Cols. 518-603
Third Reading15 July 2004Vol. 663 Cols. 1414-97
House of Commons
Introduction19 July 2004Bill 144 2003/4
Second Reading13 Sept 2004Vol. 424 Cols. 1000-88
Committee12 Oct 2004, 14 Oct 2004, 19 Oct 2004 and 21 Oct 2004Hansard Standing Committee B
Report and Third Reading2 Nov 2004Vol. 426 Cols. 173-281
Lords Consideration of Commons Amendments10 Nov 2004Vol. 666 Cols. 993-1008
Royal Assent–– 15 November 2004House of Lords Hansard Vol. 666, Col. 1185
House of Commons Hansard Vol. 426, Col. 1009

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