Meeting of the Parliament 08 June 2016
Thank you, Presiding Officer, for that lengthy introduction.
This morning, I read the papers on the named person policy. I am at a loss to understand why a simple and sensible principle—that parents and carers should have a single point of contact for children’s services—can be so difficult.
As Liz Smith mentioned, Dr Simon Knight is a named person and a youth worker in Glasgow, yet he rails against the named person policy in today’s Herald. Yesterday’s Press and Journal editorial does similar. As many of us do, I have friends who work in education, social work and other places who, just like me, are parents. Some believe that the policy is an invasion into family life—but it is not; it never can be; and it never should be.
As a parent, I can say no to the named person for my youngest sons. Both are at school: one is in primary and one is in secondary. The older one is in Inverness and has had a named person for years under Highland Council’s policy, but I have not been called in by his named person. If I had been, and I and my son’s mother had judged the matter as being for us to resolve, that is what would have happened. If—I should say that this has not happened—our son was caught drinking after school, we would deal with it. Parents and carers can say, “Thanks, but no thanks.” However, the Government has failed to get that broad point across, as it needs to do to Dr Knight and many others.
People worry that parental consent could disappear. Some say that low-level intervention involves professional health visitors or teaching staff doing the parents’ job. We all learn as parents, believe me—I have four kids and I am still learning. However, the state, and any Government, must accept and ensure that parents and carers can say, “No, that is my responsibility.”
The obvious threshold concerns child protection where there are threats to a child’s welfare or physical harm, and where a child or a young person is in danger or at risk. Following last week’s High Court ruling, there can be no MSP who would stop a named person pressing every emergency button and taking action. There are clear and very well-understood circumstances in which police, social workers and others must get involved.
I have listened to more than one First Minister explain, when a child has been murdered in the most horrific of circumstances, how a Government will inquire and review. However, I also reflect that the real challenge of child protection is helping at-risk children in catastrophic family circumstances. Families can be skilled and manipulative with agencies and can hide abuse, and that is where the named person system simply must work.
Last week, I met the area police commander at home in Shetland and we talked about the policy and about child protection. At home, there is a weekly case conference at which all the agencies are present, when any child or young person who is at risk is discussed. Parents and carers are, of course, involved. The aim is to stop an initial problem escalating.
Childcare services, numerous agencies and the national health service can be and are a maze for parents and carers, so an effective approach that involves a single point of contact who helps parents to establish who to speak with about their son or daughter is right. That must be a simple process that is designed to help. However, there are concerns about the named person policy. People want to know that it will work properly and that there are safeguards. My amendment reflects that.
First, there must be adequate resources, and adequate training is needed. The policy asks the named person to judge a child or young person not simply on the basis of risk but on an assessment of wellbeing. These days, we ask much of our teachers, health visitors and others. Are named persons receiving adequate training to cope with the 200 separate risk indicators that are the basis of the wellbeing assessment? Do teachers know what wellbeing is, rather than just knowing about teaching geography or physics? Can schools provide the professional development that the policy needs in order to work? I hope that the cabinet secretary will be prepared to consider those observations.