Beleaguered Named Person policy comes under renewed attack

The Scottish government has been urged to “do the decent thing” and scrap named person plans altogether, after lawyers criticised attempts to amend the policy at Holyrood today.

The Law Society of Scotland and Faculty of Advocates both gave evidence to the Education Committee criticising revised plans for the controversial scheme, after the Supreme Court ruled elements of it unlawful last year.

The Law Society’s Kenny Meechan told MSPs those responsible for delivering the policy would need “lawyers on speed dial” to understand the changes to the bill.

Janys Scott QC, meanwhile, said there was still widespread misunderstanding of what the Scottish government meant by the word “wellbeing”.

This would create confusion over what the threshold is for intervention by a named person, and what information should be shared and by whom, she said.

Scottish Conservative Shadow Education Secretary Liz Smith said: “The lawyers have demolished the Scottish government’s attempts to respond to the Supreme Court judgement.

“There remains a complete lack of clarity in the new bill and, just as importantly, confusion over what will be in the code of practice.

“Both are a major worry for practitioners who are expected to have all the necessary training and skills to know when to share information and to be able to account for their decisions.

“None of this is clear within the Scottish government’s revised policy and that has been made clear by practitioners, even some who were originally in favour of the Named Person policy.

“For families, the policy remains a potential source of intrusion into their family life and that is why the Scottish government should do the decent thing and scrap the new bill.”