Sarah McCarthy-Fry (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Schools and Learners), Department for Children, Schools and Families; Portsmouth North, Labour)

I beg to move amendment 343, in clause 48, page 30, line 45, at end insert—

‘( ) After that subsection add—

“(3) A child or young person who is being kept in accommodation provided for the purpose of restricting liberty is not to be regarded for the purposes of this section as detained in pursuance of an order made by a court by reason of the fact that a court has authorised the person to be kept in such accommodation under section 25(4) of the Children Act 1989 (use of accommodation for restricting liberty).”’.

The amendment clarifies legislation that relates to looked-after children who are provided with secure accommodation for welfare reasons. Such children are the subjects of orders under section 25 of the Children Act 1989, which authorise the local authority to restrict their liberty because they would otherwise be at risk of suffering significant harm or present a risk to others. The clause will amend section 562 of the Education Act 1996 so that children and young people subject to detention in juvenile custody are no longer excluded from the provisions of that Act and subsequent Acts read as one with it.

The amendment will simply amend the clause to clarify that section 562 of the 1996 Act does not apply to looked-after children who are placed in secure accommodation under section 25 of the 1989 Act and that local authority duties to those children are the same as to other children, including other looked-after children, in their area. The amendment will remove any doubt about the application of the legislation.