Plans by the Scottish government to assign a state guardian to every child in the country have been criticised by a number of prominent figures, including sociologists, Members of the Scottish Parliament and charities. An editorial in the Scottish Daily Express said that the plans constitute a “gross interference” in family life.
Scotland’s SNP government is attempting to introduce what it calls the “Named Person initiative” which will see a state guardian assigned to every child between birth and 18-years-old.
They will be able to share information with a wide range of public authorities and in some cases may intervene without parental consent.
Under government plans the Named Person scheme is set to be rolled out across the whole of Scotland by 2016, but it is already operating in some areas.
The “NO2NP” campaign opposing the initiative had draw attention to an Independent article by Dr Frank Furedi, Emeritus Professor of sociology at the University of Kent, who said that the scheme was “underpinned by the assumption that parents cannot be trusted and must be subject to constant surveillance”.
The Scottish Daily Express editorial questioned the logic behind the Named Person scheme in light of failures by existing authorities.
It referred to the death of toddler Declan Hainey four years ago which “could have been avoided if social workers and health staff had shown the kind of professionalism expected”.
According to the newspaper, Declan died because of failures by social workers and health staff and his mother’s “prolonged neglect”.
Speaking about the Government’s plans, the editorial said: “Where is the logic in this gross interference in ordinary, decent family life when the existing authorities are shown to be guilty of such appalling incompetence?”
The criticism has led to the temporary suspension of a survey being performed by local councils in connection with the named person scheme. Kenneth Roy, formerly of the BBC and editor of the Scottish Review, condemned the ‘ChildrenCount’ survey, which includes questions such as “Do you feel very close to your mother?” “When you have misbehaved do your parents listen to your side?”as well as question about cannabis consumption.‘We are sleepwalking into an authoritarian Scotland’ Roy wrote.
