EXCLUSIVE: Sinister checklist facing every Scots parent

GOVERNMENT researchers have drawn up a ‘sinister’ checklist to assess the parenting skills of every family in Scotland.

If a child requires fillings at the dentist, is disruptive at school or does not carry out voluntary work, concerns may be raised over his or her ‘well-being’.

An investigation involving social workers could also follow if a youngster is not ‘generally optimistic’, fails to display ‘positive attitudes to others’ sexuality’, commits fouls in football or ends up injured playing rugby.

The tick-list of so-called ‘outcome signifiers’ has been drawn up as part of Scotland’s controversial Named Person laws, whereby the state appoints a single identified professional to act as a state guardian for each child.

The aim of the scheme is to prevent abuse of children by appointing an independent adult – quite separate from the parents – to monitor them as they grow up.

The role of the Named Person, backed by law, will be to raise concerns about any child they are overseeing – possibly triggering the intervention of social workers.

Last night critics of the scheme said that the new list of potential warning signs was so wide-ranging that any parent, no matter how conscientious, could find themselves falling foul of the new law.

They also claimed some of the indicators were nothing more than an attempt to impose a stateapproved lifestyle.

Simon Calvert, deputy director of the Christian Institute which has led opposition to the Scottish Government project, said: ‘Parents have a wide range of views about things like immunisation, sexual ethics and diet. Why should the Named Person be allowed to interfere with what they say to their own children about these things?

‘Every child is different, with a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. Each child needs the unique, personal love and support that only their parents can give, not the bureaucratic meddling of some state functionary with a clipboard and a set of buzzwords.’

Under new legislation, everyone under the age of 19 is being assigned a Named Person – usually their pre-school health worker or senior teacher – whose duty is to ‘promote, support or safeguard their well-being’.

The scheme allows state guardians to gather and share information about each youngster right across the public sector where they deem it necessary.

The loose definition of the term ‘well-being’ has left unanswered questions over the potential reach of the Named Person – but now Scottish Government documents show just how intrusive and wide-ranging the guardians are intended to be.

Officials have been passed a rundown of 144 ‘outcome signifiers’

‘Why should a Named Person interfere?’

which was commissioned from academics at Edinburgh University – effectively a checklist against which each indicator can be marked with a tick or a cross.

The information gathered can then be stored on a database and shared with social workers and even the police, in some cases without the child or the family being consulted.

Some of the indicators are designed to flag up obvious signs of serious abuse or alert the authorities if a youngster is involved in crime or is suicidal of dangerously violent.

But state guardians are also expected to monitor if children have ‘dental decay’ or a ‘positive and respectful approach to own and others’ sexuality’. They should also check on whether pupils are disrup- tive in class, ‘motivated’ and ‘appropriately dressed for school’ and if they are ‘honest and reliable’.

Those who eat crisps, chocolate or have fizzy drinks could be marked down for not having ‘appropriate nutrition’ along with those whose parents chose not to allow them to receive the MMR or HPV injections. Last night, Scottish Conservative young people spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘This checklist is a sinister example of how Named Persons would work.

‘Some examples on the checklist simply cannot or should not be measured.

‘The vast majority of parents across Scotland do a thoroughly good job of bringing up their children and therefore have no need nor any wish to have a Named Person for their children.’

But a Scottish Government spokesman insisted: ‘This guide is a tool for professionals – senior teachers or health workers.

‘It is a list of issues that might be taken into account when considering the well-being of a child or young person.’