Named person ‘leak’ to be investigated by Scottish Government

An investigation has been launched by the Scottish Government after details of its statement on the Named Person policy were leaked to the media.

On Thursday, the Herald newspaper reported the scheme was to be scrapped by the Government ahead of a statement by Deputy First Minister John Swinney.

The scheme was introduced as part of the Government's Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) policy and aimed to appoint a named person to act as a clear point of contact for youngsters from when they are born to the age of 18.

At First Minister's Questions, Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh warned MSPs that major policy announcements should not be leaked ahead of statements being known to Parliament.

He said: “I'm sure that members will be aware and will share my disappointment that significant details of this afternoon's statement on Getting it Right for Every Child on the Named Person legislation have been leaked to the media in advance of this afternoon's announcement.

“My understanding is that the Government is investigating this matter but, as members know, announcements on major policies should not enter the public domain before they are communicated to this Parliament and I would urge the Government to have regard to this guidance on announcements and I expect it to be adhered to.''

Following the Presiding Officer's comments at FMQs, Scottish Tory interim leader Mr Carlaw said the scheme had been “utterly discredited''.

“The SNP's Named Person policy, which would allow public authorities to share confidential information about children in Scotland without either the child or young person, or their parent, being aware, has been utterly discredited,'' he said.

“Last month, even the expert panel set up by the Scottish Government to try to make sense of this declared they couldn't.

“First Minister, they were right weren't they?''

Nicola Sturgeon responded: “The Deputy First Minister will make a statement on this later this afternoon, I will not pre-empt the detail of that statement but I will make some general comments about the direction of travel.

“The Deputy First Minister's statement will do three things in general terms.

“Firstly, it will set out the Government's response to the GIRFEC practice development panel's report, that report will be published this afternoon.

“Secondly, he will set out the implications for the statutory underpinning of the named person policy.

“Thirdly, he will set out how we intend to support and, indeed, seek to improve current GIRFEC practice, particularly around the important issue of information-sharing."