State snoopers will visit your home 11 times... and you’ll HAVE to let them in

EVERY family in Scotland will be subjected to regular compulsory inspections of their parenting skills until their child begins school.

The Scottish Government has disclosed the draconian details of how its Named Person scheme will affect families across the country.

State-appointed guardians will visit the homes of all new families to carry out ‘assessments’. The inspections will be carried out by health visitors who are the Named Persons for children under five.

A strict timetable of 11 home visits, which last up to an hour and a half, has been drawn up.

The point of the inspections is to evaluate the child’s health, development and well-being and the ‘parent-child relationship’.

But new guidance issued to health visitors reveals a huge checklist by which families will be judged.

They include not only the health and development of the baby, but an array of personal details on which parents should be ‘assessed’. These include their finances, their mental health, the food they eat and even the toys and books in their home.

Health visitors will also discuss whether the mother is losing her baby weight, contraception, smoking and drinking. Even issues such as ‘screen time’ and the use of sun cream form part of the checklist.

Families judged to be falling short face being referred to doctors or social services for ‘advice and help’. They could be reported if they refuse to take part in the scheme.

Despite the intrusive nature of the assessments, parents will have no power to opt out as the Named Person scheme is written into law.

Colin Hart of the No To Named Persons campaign said families will now be under ‘surveillance”. He added: ‘Following this guidance threatens to turn health visitors into family managers. They will be typing up a wide range of extremely private information into a state database.’

The Scottish Government’s £41.6 million Universal Health Visiting Pathway from Pre-Birth to Pre School programme sets out a timetable of 11 checks on ‘all families’ in their own homes – eight within the child’s first year and three between 13 months and five years.

Scottish Tory young people spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘I doubt any family would have any objection to 11 visits from health visitors.

‘But what families will definitely not accept is that some of these visits would fall into the Named Person category which would involve the health visitor acting in that formal capacity to examine the parent and child relationship.

‘This completely undermines the trust within family relationships and is exactly the reason for the increasing fears about the Named Person and the nanny state.’

Theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said the plan would ‘help children and their families get support if they need it’. But she added: ‘However, we have significant concerns about implementing the Named Person scheme.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We are investing £41.6 million over the four years to 2018 to increase the health visitor workforce by 500. This will ensure NHS Scotland has the right levels of

‘Families will now be under surveillance’

staff to provide universal visits and developmental reviews.

‘The role of the Named Person is to provide a single point of contact for parents and children who can support them in liaising with the authorities. Our investment will ensure families can have a contact they can trust in the early years of their child’s life who will always have their best interests at heart.’