John Swinney

In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, Deputy First Minister John Swinney also announced that the mandatory named person scheme for every child – enshrined in the Children And Young People Act 2014 – will be repealed.

Instead, existing voluntary schemes that provide a point of contact for support will continue under current legal powers, where councils and health boards wish to provide them and parents want to use them.

The report of an expert panel established to explore the development of a legally-binding Code of Practice to support the Children and Young People (Information Sharing) Bill has also been published.

Mr Swinney said: “I believe that we have taken an important step forward in providing families and practitioners with certainty about how information sharing can support wellbeing in a transparent way which respects the rights of everyone.

“The mandatory named person scheme for every child – underpinned by law – will now not happen. We will withdraw our bill and repeal the relevant legislation.

“Instead, existing voluntary services that provide a point of contact for support will continue under current legal powers, where councils and health boards wish to provide them and parents want to use them.

“In this way, we will support our children and young people so that they can thrive and rise to the challenges and opportunities that life brings.

“Only through continued investment in our children’s wellbeing will we achieve our vision of a prosperous country where everyone gets the chance to fulfil their potential, and no-one is left behind.”

Advocate Gordon Lindhurst MSP said: “We should have seen this happen ages ago. The Scottish government has cost the taxpayer dearly with its insistence on a scheme that was legally flawed from the start.”