The named person service is part of the wider Scottish government policy the “Getting it right for every child” also commonly termed as (GIRFEC), which is a national approach that is aimed at ensuring the overall welfare of children. The scheme seeks to improve the outcomes as well as support and enhance the well being of young citizens as well as children by offering timely help and from the right authorities. At the very core of GIRFEC, their aim is to ensure that the most appropriate, proportional, and relevant information is disseminated to families on a timely schedule so as to offer rightful support. Also the policy advocates for sharing the right form of information at the right time in order to enhance the wellness of families and their children so as to prevent any contentious concerns from escalating into serious issues (Nicolson, 2017).
The initial rollout of the scheme was in the year 2014 when the Scotish Parliament indicated that every child should have a named person who would take care of their well being and concerns. This was met with a contentious debate from the opponents, The Christian Institute, who led a lengthy legal action against its implementation. On July 2016, the Supreme court ruled that parts of the policy proposals surrounding the issue of information sharing. This is due to the requirement of the policy which entailed that the named person would record and share confidential information regarding the children welfare (Scottish Government, 2018). This act would breach the right to privacy for families under the Children and Young People Act under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Some of the concerns that were raised in the NO To Named Person campaigns included that the named persons would somewhat take the primary role meant for parents. Also causing them to gain access to the privacy of different families in their private setting. The scheme would also cause an extensive stretch on resources while protecting the vulnerable to cater for all children regardless of whether they were needy are not. The scheme also allows the named person to talk to children even if their parents do not approve or consent hence going against the family’s principles (Nicolson, 2017). Pressure on the named person to perform their duties may cause them to report inappropriate responses regarding certain families, or make generalization among families hence wrong records.
References
Nicolson Stuart, (2017). What is the named person scheme? BBC News. Available at [Accessed 2nd Dec 2018]
Scottish Government, (2018). Information on Named Person Scheme implementation: FOI release. Available at [Acccessed 2nd Dec 2018]
