The more I hear about this Act the more it concerns me. I appreciate that children have to be protected. However I am not convinced that parts of the Act will enhance their safety, in fact bits of it are likely to be counter productive. My concern is about the 'named person' element.
It is just another step on the road to State interference and control of people's lives.
Even before the Act comes into force, their are enough worrying interferences at work.
Presently the files of children, mostly on line files, kept and maintained by Children and Families Social Work Services are able to be accessed by other services, for example Education. The families have no say in this practise and in fact, neither do the Social Work professionals, who are not even consulted. Their 'confidential' files can be accessed by third part 'partners' remotely without the case worker knowing.
The files of children held by Education Services are not open to access by Social Work professionals. So it is a one way process and worrying to say the least. In fact I am not sure what the Information Commissioner would make of the practise.
Back to 'named persons' and the Children's Act.
Having worked for many years in the fields of protecting people I am only to aware of how a policy or piece of legislation, designed and penned with a clear view of what it is to achieve, can be misunderstood, manipulated or misused over time.
While the 'spirit' of the legislation will be clear to many, those operating with intuition and understanding, it will not stand the test of the grey suits, the 'jobsworths'. The late Friday afternoon brigade who have been aware of some issue for a day or two, however, lacking the courage of the normal person, they leave it to one side, then ditch it on another professional just as they are shutting up shop for the night or weekend.
Oh, the wee one did not appear for the school trip, oh the wee one has been looking a bit tired lately, oh the wee one has not been concentrating lately, oh, and I noted he was a bit smelly last week.
Get the parents in, get the Social Services involved, make them the big bad wolves, check out the parents drinking habits, check out their bank account.
You will see where this is going. Innocent families will be in distress, who cares? The most vulnerable parents, the poor and perhaps not as well educated, the ones who cannot afford a lawyer, they will fall foul of the actions of the grey suits. Remember, the law is aimed at them anyway.
Oh, I was only doing my job. You know the one's I mean, the untouchables, the ones with no intuition, no grey areas for them, their attire apart, simply black and white.
This is another step, even if the authors did not see it, on the road to more State interference in family life, a Police State.
The trouble with most Police State situations is, you did not see it coming.
It is just another step on the road to State interference and control of people's lives.
Even before the Act comes into force, their are enough worrying interferences at work.
Presently the files of children, mostly on line files, kept and maintained by Children and Families Social Work Services are able to be accessed by other services, for example Education. The families have no say in this practise and in fact, neither do the Social Work professionals, who are not even consulted. Their 'confidential' files can be accessed by third part 'partners' remotely without the case worker knowing.
The files of children held by Education Services are not open to access by Social Work professionals. So it is a one way process and worrying to say the least. In fact I am not sure what the Information Commissioner would make of the practise.
Back to 'named persons' and the Children's Act.
Having worked for many years in the fields of protecting people I am only to aware of how a policy or piece of legislation, designed and penned with a clear view of what it is to achieve, can be misunderstood, manipulated or misused over time.
While the 'spirit' of the legislation will be clear to many, those operating with intuition and understanding, it will not stand the test of the grey suits, the 'jobsworths'. The late Friday afternoon brigade who have been aware of some issue for a day or two, however, lacking the courage of the normal person, they leave it to one side, then ditch it on another professional just as they are shutting up shop for the night or weekend.
Oh, the wee one did not appear for the school trip, oh the wee one has been looking a bit tired lately, oh the wee one has not been concentrating lately, oh, and I noted he was a bit smelly last week.
Get the parents in, get the Social Services involved, make them the big bad wolves, check out the parents drinking habits, check out their bank account.
You will see where this is going. Innocent families will be in distress, who cares? The most vulnerable parents, the poor and perhaps not as well educated, the ones who cannot afford a lawyer, they will fall foul of the actions of the grey suits. Remember, the law is aimed at them anyway.
Oh, I was only doing my job. You know the one's I mean, the untouchables, the ones with no intuition, no grey areas for them, their attire apart, simply black and white.
This is another step, even if the authors did not see it, on the road to more State interference in family life, a Police State.
The trouble with most Police State situations is, you did not see it coming.
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