The controversial Named Person Scheme has been hit by more delays, causing further embarrassment for the Scottish Government.
The original legislation, to give every child in Scotland a designated ‘named person’, was blocked by the UK Supreme Court in 2016.
Now a panel tasked with producing implementation guidance has admitted it will not be able to meet its September 2018 deadline.
Complicated
The draft Code of Practice was found to be so complicated, the Law Society Scotland advised practitioners to have their lawyers “on speed dial”.
In November 2017, Holyrood’s Education Committee demanded an “authoritative draft” of the Code before any more progress was attempted.
Education Secretary John Swinney asked for the draft to be ready by September.
But now Professor Ian Welsh, Chair of the Getting It Right For Every Child Practice Development Panel, has written to Swinney to say “additional time is required” to work on the Code.
‘Roadblock after roadblock’
The NO2NP campaign group said: “In a way, the Code is emblematic of a wider attempt by the Government to persuade the Scottish public that the Named Person policy is workable.
“So far, it has been met by roadblock after roadblock. Perhaps they should conclude that this is an impossible task.”