BACKLASH OVER ‘FLAWED’ NAMED PERSON SCHEME
SNP under pressure as revolt grows over state guardian plan
NICOLA Sturgeon is today facing demands to abandon her ‘state snooper’ plan as Scotland’s opposition politicians join forces to condemn the ‘botched’ policy. The controversial Named Person proposal, which critics claim is an alarming intrusion into family life, is set to become a dominant issue in the final weeks of the bitter election campaign.
Speaking exclusively to the Scottish Daily Mail, Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said it was time to ‘pause’ the roll-out of the legislation and order an independent review to urgently address parents’ concerns.
Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who met anxious families yesterday, also warned the First Minister that voters were ‘waking up’ to the unprecedented scale of the policy.
She said: ‘This scheme has been flawed from the outset and must now be scrapped.’
Miss Sturgeon has caused widespread confusion in recent days over her Government’s policy of appointing a Named Person for every child in the country. But the SNP, which yesterday received support from
rank-and-file police officers, has accused its opponents of ‘naked political opportunism’.
The state guardian legislation was approved at Holyrood in 2014, with Labour and the Lib Dems joining the SNP in backing the scheme, while Tory MSPs abstained.
But, more than two years on, Miss Dugdale said last night: ‘This entire process has been an absolute mess and it has caused a lot of anxiety for parents. Parents have lost confidence in the Named Person scheme.
‘We support the principle behind this policy, which was that the children at risk of falling through the cracks get the support they need. But the introduction of the policy has been botched by the SNP – from the communication of this policy to parents to the way the legislation has been presented to parliament.
‘A Labour government will pause the process and ask the Children’s Commissioner to carry out a full review, so that the concerns of parents can be addressed. If improvements are recommended then they will be implemented. The introduction of the scheme has been a shambles by the SNP and as a result of that, what we are forgetting is that we need to make sure children who need extra support get it. That should be the priority.’
Under the legislation, the NHS will appoint a health worker to act as the Named Person for every child until the age of five. The responsibility will then pass to councils until the child reaches 18, with teachers expected to be asked to take on the role.
The policy is already being rolled out in parts of Scotland including Highland, Edinburgh, Fife, Angus and South Ayrshire.
But it is the subject of an on-going legal challenge at the Supreme Court in London, and a poll of more than 500 Scots this week found that two-thirds consider it an ‘unacceptable intrusion’ into family life.
Miss Sturgeon has claimed that parents can ‘opt out’ of following the guidance of a Named Person, but the appointment of a guardian is universal. During a visit to Abernethy, Perth- shire, Miss Davidson yesterday met concerned families at a local cafe.
She said: ‘I don’t doubt the people who designed this had the best of intentions, but I have a real issue about making this mandatory for families, spreading resources too thinly and taking resources away from the families that need them most. My issue has been, particularly with Nicola muddying the waters, saying it’s fine as a parent, you don’t have to speak to a Named Person, but that doesn’t mean your children does not have one, and they aren’t collecting information on you and your family. There’s no opt-out for families. If you have a child, from August the state is going to impose a Named Person on that child. My strong urge to the SNP is, we’ve fought this at every turn, now parents are waking up to it.
‘Let’s press the pause button, get back around the table and find a better way of allocating resources for children who need them most.’
But an SNP spokesman said: ‘If Ruth Davidson thinks that the Named Person scheme is so bad then she should explain why she told her party not to vote against it – it was passed unopposed by the Scottish parliament.
‘This is naked political opportunism from a political party void of any constructive political ideas for Scotland’s future.’
Calum Steele of the Scottish Police Federation said: ‘We believe it will help keep children safer as a range of professionals – including frontline and community police officers – working together offers opportunities to pick up potential problems at an earlier stage.’
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