| AccessConditions | The minutes of the Cottage Homes and Residential Schools Sub-Committee and its sectional sub-committees contain sensitive personal data about children throughout. The minutes include information on individual children with names, ages, disabilities (if any), situation (e.g. if boarded out, placed in service or placement for adoption), and criminal offences. The records have therefore been closed for 100 years, in accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998). |
| AdminHistory | Under the Local Government Act of 1929 the Education Committee became responsible from 1 April 1930 for the management of cottage homes (and schools maintained in connection with them), hostels and the boarding out of children. Boarding out placements with foster parents were always the preferred option, but where this could not be arranged, children were placed in the residential cottage homes. The Special Schools Sub-Committee appointed a Cottage Homes and Residential Schools Sub-Committee, which first met in March 1930, for the children’s Cottage Homes at Marston Green, Erdington and Shenley Fields. The Juvenile Employment and Welfare Sub-Committee became responsible for hostels and the boarding out of children (see BCC/1/BH/14/6 Hostels and Boarding Out Sub-Committee).
When boys and girls from the cottage homes left for employment, where the employment was not residential they were provided with hostel accommodation. The cottage homes had previously been the responsibility of the Boards of Guardians and records dating from before 1929 records on the homes will be found in the Aston, Birmingham and Kings Norton Poor Law Union collections held at Birmingham City Archives, catalogue references GP/AS, GP/B and GP/KN respectively. Records of Marston Green Cottage Homes School 1884 - 1933 are also held at Birmingham City Archives, catalogue reference S 129, as are the records of Erdington Cottage Homes School 1912 - 1941, catalogue reference S 260.
The Cottage Homes and Residential Schools Sub-Committee in turn appointed Sectional Sub-Committees to meet in the individual homes to assume responsibility for all current administration of the homes and to make recommendations to the Cottage Homes and Residential Schools Sub-Committee as appropriate. The Marston Green home closed in 1933. With the passing of the Children Act in 1948 the newly created Children’s Committee became responsible for the Erdington and Shenley Fields Cottage Homes, Shawbury Approved School and Copeley Hill Hostel (see BCC/1/CT). Other welfare responsibilities of the Education Committee also transferred to the Children’s Committee were the remand homes, boarding out and the adoption of children, although this process took some time.
With the slight reduction in the responsibilities of the Special Schools Sub-Committee and its sub-sub-committees (despite the additional work arising out of the management of the Monyhull Residential School and the three Hospital Schools transferred to the Special Schools Sub-Committee under the National Health Service Act of 1948) it was decided to amalgamate the Hygiene Sub-Committee (see BCC/1/BH/10/1) with the Special Schools Sub-Committee to form a new standing sub-committee called the Special Services Sub-Committee (see BCC/1/BH/16/1). |