Section 57 Registration of voluntary homes.

No voluntary home shall be carried on unless it is for the time being registered in a register to be kept for the purposes of this section by the Secretary of State.

Application for registration under this section shall be made by the persons intending to carry on the home to which the application relates, and shall be made in such manner, and accompanied by such particulars, as the Secretary of State may by regulations prescribe.

On an application duly made under subsection (2) above the Secretary of State may either grant or refuse the application, as he thinks fit, but where he refuses the application he shall give the applicant notice in writing of the refusal.

Where at any time it appears to the Secretary of State that the conduct of any voluntary home is not in accordance with regulations made or directions given under section 60 of this Act or is otherwise unsatisfactory, he may, after giving to the persons carrying on the home not less than twenty-eight days’ notice in writing of his proposal to do so, remove the home from the register.

Any person who carries on a voluntary home in contravention of the provisions of subsection (1) above shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

Where—

the Secretary of State may, notwithstanding that the time for any appeal under section 58 of this Act has not expired or that such an appeal is pending, notify the local authority in whose area the home is situated and require them forthwith to remove from the home and receive into their care under section 2 of this Act all or any of the children for whom accommodation is being provided in the home; and the local authority shall comply with the requirement whether or not the circumstances of the children are such that they fall within paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) of that section and notwithstanding that any of the children may appear to the local authority to be over the age of seventeen.

For the purposes of carrying out the duty of the local authority under this subsection, any person authorised in that behalf by the local authority may enter any premises in which the home in question is being carried on.

Where the Secretary of State registers a home under this section or removes a home from the register he shall notify the local authority in whose area the home is situated.

Any notice under this section required to be given by the Secretary of State to the persons carrying on, or intending to carry on, a voluntary home may be given to those persons by being delivered personally to any one of them, or being sent by post in a registered letter to them or any one of them.

For the purposes of section 7 of the M1Interpretation Act 1978 (which defines “service by post”) a letter enclosing a notice under this section to the persons carrying on a voluntary home or anyone of them shall be deemed to be properly addressed if it is addressed to them or him at the home.