Plans to assign a Named Person to every child in Scotland have been described as “a sledgehammer to crack a nut”, but the Government maintains it will press on regardless.
The criticism came on the BBC Sunday Politics Scotland programme which also saw Scottish minister for children Aileen Campbell defend the plans.
Campbell said the scheme would come into force in 2016 as she sought to evade questions about whether children’s medical records could be accessed by the Named Person without parents’ consent.
Powers
The Christian Institute’s Director Colin Hart said the plans are like “a sledgehammer to crack a nut” and would hit families who are not doing anything wrong.
He said the Government had passed legislation which “gives huge powers to named persons to advise and talk to children without their parents even knowing about it and without their consent”.
A mother who represents a charity that helps children with chronic fatigue conditions also criticised the plans.
Speaking to the BBC, Lesley Scott said the Named Person scheme would make it harder for parents to be the “final word on care of their child”.
Giant bureaucracy
Conservative MSP Gavin Brown also criticised the proposals, saying “enormous sums of money” were being spent on a “giant bureaucracy that actually doesn’t help”.
He added that the plans negatively impact the “autonomy of the family” and move the balance towards the state and away from parents.
However, the Government minister claimed the scheme does not “touch parental rights and responsibilities”, and rather “supports parents”.
Betrayed
The plans have been criticised by the NO2NP campaign, which is supported by The Christian Institute, the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, home education group Schoolhouse and others.
NO2NP has highlighted a number of parents who are concerned about the Named Person plan.
Donna Mackie was left feeling betrayed after suffering at the hands of Highland Council which operates a pilot Named Person initiative.
She and her two teenage sons were forced to leave their Highland home to get away from the scheme.