The Scottish Government dropped its controversial plans to appoint a state guardian for every young person in Scotland, it was announced in September.
In a statement, Education Secretary John Swinney told the Scottish Parliament that the Government would repeal the Named Person elements in the ‘Children and Young People Act 2014,’ when a suitable legislative vehicle could be identified.
The Named Person scheme had been fiercely criticised by lawyers, parents, teachers, police chiefs and other campaigners. It was supposed to come into force in August 2016, but following legal action in July 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that the information-sharing parts of the scheme were in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Despite introducing a new Bill trying to address the problems identified by the Supreme Court, the Scottish Government’s Named Person proposals continued to flounder.
Meanwhile, on 3 October Scotland banned smacking. It removes the defence of ‘justifiable assault’. The rest of the UK has a ‘reasonable punishment’ defence which allows a smack which leaves no mark on the skin.
