TWO stories collided horribly this week when the Law Society of Scotland raised concerns about Government plans to improve child protection on the day Magdalena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek were convicted of the appalling torture and murder of their little boy, Daniel Pelka, in yet another case where social workers, police, teachers and NHS staff failed to act on clear warning signs about a child's plight.
The Law Society claimed that proposals to provide a state guardian for every child could amount to "disproportionate state interference" in family life and may be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. The miserable life and cruel death of Daniel Pelka is, of course, only the latest in a long line of tragic cases which those same Government plans are designed to end.
There have certainly been enough of them. Little Daniel, four, died at the hands of his mother and stepfather in Coventry but Scotland has witnessed more than its share of child protection tragedies. The names of Declan Hainey (whose mother Kimberley Hainey was later cleared of the toddler's murder on appeal), Caleb Ness, Carla Nicole Bone and Brandon Muir form a familiar, dreadful litany of cases in which the authorities did too little to protect vulnerable youngsters.
Morag Driscoll, the convener of the Law Society of Scotland's family law committee, recognised the aims of the Government's Children and Young People Bill - the legislation which will create the named person guardians - were "admirable". Yet the lawyers' criticisms quickly prompted a claim by Scottish Tory education spokeswoman Liz Smith that the measure "seems to be all about the nanny state" and the Big Brother-is-watching-you theme was picked up in sections of the Press. The Scottish Government, it seems, is to be damned if acts and damned if it doesn't.
Health Secretary Alex Neil did not anticipate such controversy when he launched the Children and Young People Bill in April. Addressing the repeated failures of the child protection system was, everyone agreed, long overdue and in a consultation 72% of respondents backed the specific idea of providing a named person, including the leading children's charities Aberlour, Action for Children, Barnardo's and Children 1st.
Nor has Holyrood's education and culture committee, which is currently scrutinising the Bill, appeared unduly exercised by the proposal. The main concern raised by MSPs so far is that it might place an unrealistic extra burden on over-stretched social work and education departments.
The Government insists that won't be case. It says the proposal complies with ECHR and, far from being a state-sponsored snooper, the named person would remain invisible to the vast majority of ordinary, stable, loving families. In practice it is expected a health visitor will fulfil the role until a child reaches school age when a head teacher or deputy head takes over. Their job will be to communicate concerns among different agencies (a deliberate attempt to prevent children falling through gaps in the system), to call in help and to act as a point of contact for families who accept they are struggling to cope.
There is another aspect of this story which has been completely overlooked amid the growing alarm. If the named person proposal really is the thin end of a Big Brother wedge, I have to report that you are already living in an Orwellian nightmare. At least, that is, if you live in Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Highland or Falkirk council areas where the policy has already been rolled out.
Blogging on an education website a couple of months ago, Marion Samson, headteacher at Westquarter primary school in Falkirk, explained how it worked, describing her role as named person in terms of supporting families while liaising with and "challenging" other agencies. It means, she said, that "hopefully the right supports can be put in place to allow families to get back on track".
The Children and Young People Bill still has a few Holyrood hurdles to clear before it becomes law but, given the named person system is partially up and running and seems to be working, MSPs should perhaps be mindful not only of "nanny state" headlines now but the kind of coverage they could expect if they threw it out and another tragedy struck.
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