Scottish Catholic Observer

Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews and Edinburgh has said the Scottish Government must not ‘interfere in the internal life of the family.’

His intervention comes as fears grow over the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act, which the Scottish Parliament passed last month, as reports suggest the implantation of its plan to name a state guardian for every child may cost tens of millions more than previously thought.

Archbishop Cushley said that the ‘Bishops’ Conference of Scotland is fully committed to ensuring the wellbeing of children,’ but that this legislation was questionable.

“We endorse attempts to ensure that excellent services are available to all children who require them and have shown this commitment in implementing rigorous safeguarding policies and collaborating with the GIRFEC model of child wellbeing,” he said. “Support for children puts the wellbeing of children at the heart of all policies and must be based on support for the family. The common good of society depends on the stability of family life.  The state must respect subsidiarity and should support not interfere in the internal life of the family.”

Archbishop Cushley said that he and his fellow bishops shared the fears of other groups like the Church of Scotland that the bill would undermine the family.

“We share the widely expressed reservations of many who fear that some provisions of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act could permit unwarranted interference in family life due to the broad nature of the powers of ‘named persons service’ and the low threshold set for triggering the sharing of information about children among state agencies,” he said. “While recognising the good intentions behind such efforts, we hope that the government will act in a proportionate and focused manner with due respect to the autonomy and privacy of the family.”

The archbishop’s warning comes amid concerns that implementing the bill could be ruinous and expensive. The legislation instructs the NHS to appoint a health worker to be the ‘named person’ for every child up to the age of five, after which responsibility would pass to local councils, with teachers likely to take over the role.

But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned that the scheme would require the recruitment and training of 450 new health visitors.

The cost of nursing training and annual salaries for the extra health visitors could amount to well over £30 million.

Dr Stuart Waiton, a sociology lecturer at Abertay University, has raised concerns that the appointed state guardians will inevitably be ‘less likely to focus on the very few serious cases of child abuse’ as these will become ‘lost in the crowd’ of an expanded list of concerns.

Aidan O’Neill QC, a leading human rights lawyer warned that the plans may not be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, which says the state should respect ‘private and family life.’

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill was passed by 103 votes to 0, with 15 abstentions after the final debate last month

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—This story ran in full in the March 14 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.