SNP urged to abandon its ‘unworkable’ snooper plan

PLANS to introduce a state guardian for every child in scotland are ‘unworkable’ and must now be abandoned, the Education secretary has been told.

In a letter to John swinney, scottish Tory education spokesman liz smith urged him to ‘take heed of the overwhelming evidence’ and scrap his named person scheme.

It was disclosed at the weekend that an expert panel appointed to salvage the scheme has failed to find a way to make it workable. The supreme Court ruled that proposals which allowed sharing of children’s personal details across agencies without their parents’ knowledge was illegal.

The panel was set up by the scottish Government to address the concerns by drawing up a new code of practice.

In recently published minutes relating to a panel meeting in March, members found ‘a statutory Code of practice that must be applied in all situations is not the right thing to do’.

It was noted the panel chairman ‘wants to ensure the report is clear that although a code of practice could be produced to support the legislation, it would not be desirable as the complexity of this would mean it would not be easy to understand or apply in practice’.

Miss smith said: ‘The named person policy has been a fiasco from start to finish.

‘The expert panel has now deemed it to be unworkable which is what many parents and practitioners have been telling the scottish Government for several years.

‘John swinney must finally take heed of the overwhelming evidence and advice and abandon this policy now.’

In her letter to the Education secretary, sent yesterday, she said concerns about the scheme had been repeatedly raised by campaigners, parents, teachers, health workers and public sector staff.

Miss smith said: ‘From the supreme Court decision right through to this weekend’s panel findings, the named person policy has been proven to be seriously flawed and also very expensive in terms of civil servants’ and ministers’ time and, of course, in terms of taxpayers’ money – money that would be better spent on supporting our most vulnerable children in a more targeted manner.

‘The scottish Conservatives have long argued that the named person policy is both unworkable and deeply unpopular in the country at large. I

‘A fiasco from start to finish’

therefore urge you, once again, to take heed of the overwhelming evidence and abandon the named person policy.’

On BBC Radio scotland’s Good Morning scotland programme yesterday, simon Calvert, from the no to the named persons campaign, said: ‘The supreme Court certainly ruled that the heart of the scheme – which was the power to grab and share private information on families against their wishes – was a breach of the human rights of those families.

‘I think it is time for the scottish Government to apologise to families for that.’

a scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Ministers are currently considering the advice and recommendations of the expert panel.

‘We remain committed to promoting good informationsharing practice in the best interests of scotland’s children and families.’ Graham Grant and Comment – Page 18