19th September 2019
The Scottish Government has decided to scrap its controversal mandatory Named Person scheme, blaming changes to data protection brought about by GDPR. John Swinney made the announcment to Parliament this afternoon, and you can read the full statement here.
Eileen Prior, Executive Director of parents’ organisation Connect, said:
‘We are relieved and pleased that the Named Person aspect of the Children and Young People’s Act will not go ahead. This is good news for families and children, and those working to support them. We believed from the outset that the Named Person system would have undermined the relationship of trust needed for families to work together with school staff and others.
However, we know some local authorities have gone ahead with partial implementation. What will happen to these schemes and how will everyone be updated on the fact that the Named Person role is no more?
We look forward to hearing about the detail of this.’
Lindsay Law, parent Chair of the Connect Board of trustees, said
‘Many parents have been concerned about the Named Person proposals. The difficulties of implementation have been highlighted over the last few years by the Scottish Government’s own experts. Now we need clear information for parents to let them know the Named Person scheme ends here.’