(1)Where, after a child has been received into the care of a local authority under section 1 of the Children Act 1948, the whereabouts of any parent or guardian of his have remained unknown for not less than twelve months, then, for the purposes of section 2 of that Act (which enables a local authority in certain circumstances to assume parental rights) the parent or guardian shall be deemed to have abandoned the child.
(2)The power of a local authority under paragraph (b) of section 2(1) of the Children Act 1948 to resolve that all rights and powers of a parent or guardian shall vest in them may be exercised, as well as in the cases mentioned in that paragraph, in any case where it appears to them—
(a)that the parent or guardian suffers from a mental disorder (within the meaning of the Mental Health Act 1959 or the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1960) which renders him unfit to have the care of the child; or
(b)that the parent or guardian has so persistently failed without reasonable cause to discharge the obligations of a parent or guardian as to be unfit to have the care of the child ;
and the power of the court or sheriff, under subsection (3) of that section, to order that the resolution shall not lapse may also be exercised if the court or sheriff is satisfied that the person who objected to the resolution is unfit to have the care of the child by reason of his persistent failure to discharge the obligations of a parent or guardian.
(3)In this section "child " has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1948.