Section 4 Additional provisions as to order committing care of child to local authority.F1C3C1C2

An order under section 2(2)(b) above committing the care of a child to a local authority shall commit him to the care (while a child) of the authority in whose area he is, in the opinion of the court, resident immediately before being so committed.

Before making an order under section 2(2)(b) above the court shall inform the local authority of the court’s proposal to make the order, and shall hear any representations from the authority, including any representations as to the making also of an order under section 2(3) above for payments to the authority F2but the court shall not be required by virtue of this subsection to inform the local authority of their proposal to make such an order if an officer of the authority has already made to the court under section 6 of this Act a report which contains a recommendation that an order should be made under the said section 2(2)(b).

The court shall not make an order committing a child to the care of a local authority under section 2(2)(b) above after he has attained the age of seventeen.

In relation to an order under section 2(2)(b) above committing the care of a child to a local authority, or to an order under section 2(3) requiring payments to be made to an authority to whom the care of a child is so committed, F4F5section 13 of the Guardianship of Minors Act 1971 shall apply as if the order made under section 2 of this Act were an order under section 9 F6or 11B of the Guardianship of Minors Act 1971.

An order under section 2(2)(b) or (3) above relating to a child may be varied or discharged by a subsequent order made on the application of either parent or after the death of either parent on the application of any guardian under the Guardianship of Minors Act 1971 or on the application of the local authority to whose care the child was committed by the order under section 2(2)(b)F8and in the case of an order under section 2(3) above requiring payments to be made to or in respect of a child an application for the variation of the order may, if the child has attained the age of sixteen, be made by the child himself..

The court in exercising its powers under subsection (3A) above in relation to an order made under section 2(3) above shall have regard to all the circumstances of the case including any change in any of the matters to which the court was required to have regard when making the order.

Where, on an application under subsection (3A) above for the variation or discharge of an order for the making of periodical payments made under section 2(3) above, the court varies the payments required to be made under the order, the court may provide that the payments as so varied shall be made from such date as the court may specify, not being earlier than the date of the making of the application.

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On the making of an order under section 2(2)(b) above with respect to a child, Parts 111 and V of the Child Care Act 1980 (which relate to the treatment of children in the care of a local authority and to contributions towards their maintenance) shall apply as if the child had been received by the local authority into their care under section 2 of that Act except that—

While an order under section 2(2)(b) above remains in force with respect to a child, the child shall continue in the care of the local authority notwithstanding any claim by a parent or other person.

Each parent or guardian of a child for the time being in the care of a local authority by virtue of an order under section 2(2)(b) above shall give notice to the authority of any change of address of that parent or guardian, and any person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with this subsection shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F13level 2 on the standard scale.