MSPs to examine claims of ‘illegal’ council snooping

CLAIMS that councils have been illegally snooping on families under the SNP’s Named Person scheme are to be examined by MSPs.

The initiative – which would see a single point of contact, such as a teacher or health visitor, appointed to look out for the welfare of all children – was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court in 2016 because it allowed unfettered data sharing.

But campaigners insist officials have been routinely handing round information on children and parents – often inaccurate – both before and since the court ruling.

They say the Scottish Government’s Getting It Right For Every Child policy and early implementation of its Named Person scheme have led to unlawful data collection and a loss of trust in services among families. Now Holyrood’s public petitions committee is to write to the Government asking it to respond to the claims.

Yesterday MSPs heard from two members of the No 2 Named Persons campaign who want a public inquiry into the controversy.

Lesley Scott, of the Tymes Trust charity, said Named Person was an ‘ongoing assault on family life’.

She added: ‘In a lot of cases it [has resulted in] actual harm in terms of their data being shared and the consequences of that.’

Alison Preuss, of Scottish Home Education Forums, said: ‘We have evidence of multi-agency professionals getting it wrong and actually acting outwith the law.’

She said background checks on families, with ‘no legal basis’, had found their way into local policies, with parents’ health, social work and police records accessed without their knowledge.

The scheme has already been trialled in parts of the country.