Ministers face calls to respond swiftly to court ruling against Named Person law

credit - Scottish government flickr

Supporters of the Scottish Government’s Named Person plan have called on ministers to make urgent and swift changes to the legislation after the UK’s highest court ruled against it.

The Supreme Court said that the plan to have a named professional for every child in Scotland breaches rights to privacy and a family life under the European Convention on Human Rights. 

However, supporters of the law called on ministers to react swiftly to the ruling by judges, who have given the Scottish Government 42 days to respond.

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Theresa Fyffe, director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland, said the plan was needed to safeguard the welfare of children, but said changes had to be made so it could be delivered.

She said: “RCN Scotland, along with many other organisations involved in children and young people’s health and wellbeing, supports the general principles of the Named Person scheme, which we believe will have a positive role in promoting, supporting and safeguarding the wellbeing of children and young people in Scotland.

“The Scottish Government must therefore now act swiftly in the next 42 days to ensure it provides this clarity and makes the necessary legislative amendments, so that the health visitors and teachers who have been working to take up the Named Person role or who are already implementing it are not left in limbo and are given clear guidance as soon as possible.”

However, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said ministers should scrap the scheme altogether, as she hailed the Supreme Court ruling as a victory for the campaigners who brought the legal challenge against the plan.

Davidson said: "This is an important ruling by the most senior court in the land.

"It's a victory for campaigners who have exposed this from the outset as illiberal, invasive and deeply flawed.

"If the Scottish Government arrogantly tries to implement this anyway - as it has threatened to do – it will face a heavy reckoning from Scottish parents who rightly want to be able to raise their children without state interference.”

Ross Greer, the Scottish Greens’ education and skills spokesman, says ministers should use the ruling as an opportunity to “build public confidence” in the legislation, which critics have said is overly intrusive.

Greer said: “Greens continue to support the Named Person scheme and it is positive that the UK Supreme Court has ruled this essential child protection scheme ‘unquestionably legitimate’.

“As I told the Scottish Parliament last month, the Scottish Government must do more to build public confidence and better explain what Named Person means in practice. Even the name is far from perfect.

“They now have an opportunity to do that when the Supreme Court’s necessary changes are made to the legislation.”

Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who is also Scotland's education secretary, has said the government will press ahead with the legislation and make the required changes.

However, Scottish Labour's education spokesperson Iain Gray called on the government to put the legislation on hold to allow for a “complete re-examination of the guidance and regulations".

Gray said: “The SNP Government's handling of the Named Person scheme has been a shambles from the very beginning, and this ruling confirms that.

"Labour will always support the need to protect vulnerable children and ensure that families get the support they need and deserve.

"In light of this ruling, however, the implementation of this scheme must be paused for as long as it takes to sort it properly.”