Swinney U-turns on named person scheme

Education secretary John Swinney has about-turned on his named person scheme by publishing new legislation to water down the key aspect of his controversial plans.

The Scottish Government has been forced into a climbdown after its intention to allow information sharing about children among agencies without seeking parental permission was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court.

The scheme to appoint a namedperson–usuallyahead teacher or health visitor – to every Scottish child has been one of the most controversial Scottish Government policies.

Critics believe it is unnecessarily intrusive and undermines the rights of parents.

Originally, ministers wanted the new law to enable information about children to be shared across agencies without the knowledge of parents.

Last year, however, the Supreme Court ruled that part of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act was not within Holyrood’s competency and warned it would breach rights to privacy and family life under the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Swinney has now published the Children and Young People (Information Sharing) (Scotland) Bill, which is designed to ensure sharing is compatible with current law.

Public bodies and other organisations will have a duty to consider if the sharing of information will “promote, support or safeguard” the well-being of a child.

The new law will also introduce a new code of practice for information sharing.

Yesterday Conservative education spokeswoman Liz Smith said: “The named person policy was a huge mistake from beginning to end which is why the Scottish Government has been forced into a major U-turn.

“The announcement effectively means that no parent will now be forced to accept the advice from his or her child’s named person, and that refusal to accept advice will no longer be treated with suspicion by the authorities.”