Early Childhood Development Centres Bill

Bill No. 7/2017

Read the first time on 6 February 2017.

An Act to regulate the operation of early childhood development centres, to provide for other connected or incidental matters, to repeal the Child Care Centres Act (Chapter 37A of the 2012 Revised Edition) and to make consequential and related amendments to certain other Acts.

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement

1. This Act is the Early Childhood Development Centres Act 2017 and comes into operation on a date that the Minister appoints by notification in the Gazette.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“applicant” means a person making an application;

“application”, in relation to a licence, means an application for or to renew a licence;

“authorised officer”, for any provision of this Act, means a public officer who is appointed as an authorised officer under section 5(3) for the purposes of that provision;

“Chief Licensing Officer” means the public officer appointed under section 5(1)(a);

“code of practice” means a code of practice issued or approved by the Chief Licensing Officer under section 36, and includes any such code of practice as amended from time to time under that section;

“early childhood development centre” means any premises where any early childhood development service is provided or is to be provided;

“early childhood development service” means the provision of care or education, or care and education, habitually of 5 or more children who are below 7 years of age, for a fee, reward or profit by a person who is not a relative or guardian of all the children;

“key appointment holder”, in relation to an applicant or a licensee —

(a)

that is a company, limited liability partnership or other body corporate, means —

(i)	a member of the board of directors or committee or board of trustees or other governing board of the applicant or licensee (as the case may be); and
(ii)	any other person, by whatever name called, who has general management or supervision of the business of the early childhood development centre to which the application or licence (as the case may be) relates;

(b)

that is a partnership, means —

(i)	a partner of the applicant or licensee (as the case may be); and
(ii)	any other person, by whatever name called, who has general management or supervision of the business of the early childhood development centre to which the application or licence (as the case may be) relates; and

(c)

in any other case, means any person, by whatever name called, who has general management or supervision of the business of the early childhood development centre to which the application or licence (as the case may be) relates;

“licence” means a licence granted or renewed under this Act authorising the licensee to operate the early childhood development centre specified in the licence;

“licensee” means a person who is the holder of a licence;

“modification” and “modify”, in relation to the conditions of a licence, include deleting or varying and substituting a condition, and adding a condition;

“operate”, for an early childhood development centre, means to control or direct the operations of the centre in connection with a business of providing or offering early childhood development service at that centre;

“premises” includes a building, an enclosure, ground and open air space;

“repealed Act” means the Child Care Centres Act (Cap. 37A) repealed by this Act.

Act does not apply to certain centres

3. This Act does not apply to, or in relation to any of the following:

(a)

any early childhood development centre —

(i)	operated by or on behalf of the Government; or
(ii)	specified in the Schedule (called in this Act an excluded early childhood development centre);

(b)

any person deployed, engaged or permitted by —

(i)	the Government to perform any duty or provide any service at a centre mentioned in paragraph (a)(i); or
(ii)	the operator of an excluded early childhood development centre to perform any duty or provide any service at that centre.

Purpose of Act

4. The purpose of this Act is to regulate the operation of early childhood development centres, so as to —

(a)	protect the safety, wellbeing and welfare of children at early childhood development centres; and
(b)	promote the quality, and continuous improvement in the quality, of early childhood development services at early childhood development centres.

Appointment of officers

5.—(1) The Minister may appoint —

(a)	a public officer as the Chief Licensing Officer for the purposes of this Act; and
(b)	such number of public officers as Assistant Chief Licensing Officers as may be necessary.

(2) The Chief Licensing Officer and Assistant Chief Licensing Officers may be known by such title as the Minister determines from time to time.

(3) The Chief Licensing Officer may, in relation to any provision of this Act, appoint a public officer to be an authorised officer for the purposes of that provision, either generally or in a particular case.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), the Chief Licensing Officer may, with the approval of the Minister, delegate the exercise of all or any of the powers conferred or duties imposed upon the Chief Licensing Officer by any provision of this Act (except the power of delegation conferred by this subsection) to an Assistant Chief Licensing Officer.

(5) Any delegation under subsection (4) may be general or in a particular case and may be subject to such conditions or limitations as set out in this Act or as the Chief Licensing Officer may specify; and any reference in the provision of this Act to the Chief Licensing Officer includes a reference to such an Assistant Chief Licensing Officer.

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