Fury over ‘toothless’ watchdog for SNP’s named person plan
THE watchdog overseeing state guardians will be powerless to force councils to respond to parents’ concerns.
New Scottish Government guidance has revealed the many hoops families will be forced to jump through to complain about state intrusion.
They must go to the local council, health board or ‘named person service’ first, and if they are unsatisfied with the response, appeal to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).
But even if the SPSO agrees with them, it can only make recommendations to organisations overseeing the state guardians, which they are free to ignore.
If the SPSO is not satisfied, it can refer its recommendations to Holyrood.
It is a further blow to opponents of the scheme, who failed to overturn the legislation at the Court of Session and are plan- ning an appeal to the Supreme Court. A spokesman for the No To Named Person (N2NP) campaign said: ‘There will be gross breaches of privacy under the named person scheme.
‘But the complaints procedure for parents is to be made as easy as crawling over broken glass.
‘And even if at the final stage the ombudsman does uphold a parental complaint, the state guardians will be free to ignore it. This is an outrage.
‘Under the named person scheme, the watchdog will be a toothless tiger.
‘It should be fundamental that any complaint against the process which is upheld by the ombudsman should never be ignored and that robust safeguards be implemented to make sure that i s the position in practice.’
The named person measure, contained in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act, will assign a single point of contact, such as a headteacher or health visitor, to look out for the welfare of children aged under 18.
Liz Smith, Scots Tory young people spokesman, said: ‘Parents are angry enough at the SNP’s imposition of a named person for every child and this just will heighten their concern.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We are currently consulting on a complaints process for the Named Person and Child’s Plan so that it is clear, effective and accessible to all who might have cause to use it in the future.
‘All contributions to the consultation will be given full consideration.’