SNP plans to snoop on family life to be challenged in court
A LEGAL bid to block the SNP’s plans to appoint a state guardian for every child in Scotland will be launched this week.
Papers formally challenging the Scottish Government’s ‘named person’ proposals will be lodged at the Court of Session on Wednesday.
Under the SNP’s plans, which were passed by MSPs earlier this year, every child would be assigned a specific state worker who would be responsible for liaising with their family and safeguarding their welfare from birth until the age of 18.
The case against the scheme is being spearheaded by the No To Named Persons (NO2NP) campaign group, which has been set up to fight the legislation. It claims that the Scottish Government is acting illegally and exceeding its powers. NO2NP also says the plans are in direct contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Campaign spokesman Colin Hart, director of the Christian Institute, said: ‘This marks the beginning of a landmark case which has implications for every family in Scotland.
‘We are making a stand for all mums and dads who are doing their best for the children they love.
‘We are not prepared to stand by and watch as the roles of parents and their rights to a family life are diminished and trampled over by an authoritarian Big Brother government intent on making its presence felt in every living room in the land.’
More than a million young people will be assigned a ‘named person’, who will have the power to ‘advise and inform’ the child or discuss or raise matters about the child with the relevant authorities.
Campaigners say the blanket nature of the named person plans is a disproportionate and unjustified interference
‘Making a stand for all mums and dads’
with the right of individual families to a private life.
In a written opinion, leading human rights QC Aidan O’Neill said the scheme fails to provide proper protections against ‘arbitrary and oppressive’ powers which the Government may use.
He added: ‘What is startling about the proposed named person service in the Bill is that it appears to be predicated on the idea that the proper primary relationship that children will have for their well-being and development, nurturing and education is with the State rather than within their families and with their parents.
‘The further remarkable aspect is that it is intended to be universal in scope – applying to every child, regardless of any assessment of need.
‘Every child in Scotland is to be assigned a named person, whether or not problems are on the radar.’
The Scottish Government has said it is ‘confident’ that its Bill is compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights – and pointed out that it was backed by a majority of those who responded to its public consultation.