You’ll need law degree to grasp Named Person rules, say MSPs
TEACHERS and health visitors will need ‘legal degrees’ to understand Named Person rules, according to MSPs.
The Education Secretary was yesterday accused of sweeping aside the concerns of lawyers, parents and professionals after being quizzed about plans to appoint ‘state snoopers’ for every child.
John Swinney has been forced to dramatically overhaul the scheme after it was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court last year. But his bid to salvage the policy has been criticised, with lawyers claiming it risks ‘undermining the trust of families’.
And yesterday he appeared in front of Holyrood’s delegated powers and law reform committee where MSPs questioned a ‘binding’ code of practice which will be drawn up by ministers to provide clarity on whether information should be shared with bodies without consent.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon and Tory MSP Alison Harris quizzed Mr Swinney over the code and its apparent complexity.
Mr Swinney said that the government had analysed in ‘great depth’ the issues raised by the Supreme Court, including the information-sharing provisions that judges had ruled ‘incompatible’ with the European Convention on Human Rights.
He said the resulting guidance would be used to ‘inform individuals who will be in a position to exercise these responsibilities’. Changes made to the original scheme mean information will not be shared without the consent of a child or parents unless there is an ‘overriding reason’ to do so.
However, the code of conduct for childcare professionals has been criticised as being too vague, while questions remain over why it was not written into legislation. Yesterday, Mr Swinney was repeatedly asked why the code had not been worked into the amended Bill.
He said: ‘I have no reason to change the law, and I don’t propose in the Bill to change the law because I have no desire to change the issue of consent.
‘What I have said is that the Supreme Court has placed an obligation on us to explain the interaction between the existing legal framework and the legal framework that will be in place here, which will be the duty to consider information sharing. And that is precisely why I have taken the decisions I have taken.’
The Faculty of Advocates has raised concerns over the complexity of the code.
Mrs Harris asked Mr Swinney if professionals would have to ‘decipher’ the legislation.
She added: ‘Are you basically telling me that teachers require somewhat of a legal degree to read the code of practice before they implement the Bill?’
Mr Swinney said that this was not the case.
Last night, Simon Calvert of the No to Named Person campaign group said: ‘The way so many concerns – of lawyers, parents, professionals and MSPs – are being swept aside is a disgrace.’