Challenge to named person scheme to be heard in Supreme Court

Four charities and three individuals lodged an appeal after the Court of Session twice rejected their case. The Supreme Court hearing is expected to last two days.

The charities are The Christian Institute, Family Education Trust, The Young ME Sufferers (“Tymes”) Trust and CARE (Christian Action Research & Education).

The basis of the appeal will be that the Court of Session erred in its consideration of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights as well as its interpretation of data protection law and of the Scotland Act 1998 and the question whether the Scottish government had acted ultra vires.

The named person scheme, part of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, is expected to be implemented from August.

Dr Gordon Macdonald of CARE said: “The Scottish Government’s named person scheme is very dangerous and will undermine parents and their role as the best guardians of their children.

“Simple logic dictates if you spread resources too thin, which this scheme will inevitably do, vulnerable children who are most in need of help may well be overlooked and put at risk.

“We have brought this case to the UK Supreme Court because it has the power to overrule the Scottish Government and also because we remain utterly convinced this scheme breaches international human rights laws and therefore needs to be scrapped or redrafted.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish government said: “The Court of Session has twice ruled in favour of our Named Person legislation and we are confident that the Supreme Court will uphold these rulings.

“The rulings recognised that the Named Person service was developed carefully over more than a decade with extensive input and wide support from experts and encourages professionals to work together.

“They also recognised that through prevention and early intervention, the service seeks to put the best interests of every child at the heart of decision making.”