THE SNP has claimed the tragic Clyde Campbell neglect case underlines the need for its controversial Named Person scheme.
The two-year-old died from cot death after being left unsupervised at his mother’s home in the Highland capital.
Last week, Amanda Hardie admitted neglecting her son in the five months leading up to his death.
He was left alone on several occasions while she went to work or stayed with her boyfriend.
But the neglect went undetected – despite a form of the Named Person scheme already exists in the Highlands.
The SNP proposal to give every child in Scotland a nominated adult has been heavily criticised by opposition parties and religious and parent groups.
But a spokesman for the SNP told The Press and Journal: “This is an utterly tragic case which, far from undermining the argument for looking out for the interests of children, underlines the need for such work.
“No system can prevent all tragedies, but the named person policy is an important part of trying to ensure as far as possible that youngsters do not come to harm.
“It is about supporting, not diminishing, the role of parents – and has already been upheld by the highest court in Scotland, including a ruling which said the policy had ‘no effect whatsoever on the legal, moral or social relationships within the family’.”
A version of the Named Person scheme has operated in the north for several years, meaning that in common with every child in the Highlands, Clyde had been assigned one.
The Named Persons are professional people who can raise concerns if there are serious worries about a child, including signs of neglect.
The policy is due to be rolled out nationally in August, having been championed by the SNP government.
Midwives, health visitors and school teachers perform the role, depending on the age of the child.
Critics have described the Named Person scheme and intrusion into family life.
On a visit to the Highlands yesterday, Scottish Conservatives’ leader Ruth Davidson branded the policy “muddle-headed and wrong and needing a rethink.”
She added: “I don’t doubt that the people who designed Named Person had good intentions.
“I think the worry is, one, how it is actually going to work on the ground, two, the fact it seems to be without the consent and the wishes of parents and, three, the very real concerns that making this compulsory for every family you are spreading resources too thin and actually taking some of the resource and the focus away from the most vulnerable and those who need it most.”
Care (Christian Action Research and Education) for Scotland parliamentary officer, Dr Gordon Macdonald, said: “The named person scheme might come from a place of good intentions, but it is bad legislation.
“Swamping hard working professionals with additional work, which this scheme inevitably will do, raises the prospect of the scheme achieving the opposite of its intention with genuinely at-risk children slipping through the net whilst other families are subject to unwarranted scrutiny.”
At Inverness Sheriff Court last week former model Hardie, 30, admitted wilfully ill-treating, abandoning, neglecting and exposing Clyde to unnecessary suffering or injury in her then-flat at Mackintosh Road in Inverness between October 1, 2013 and February 23, 2014.
There is no clinical basis to link the admitted neglect to his death.
Hardie is due to return to court next month for sentencing.
A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “Every child in Highland has a named person.
“Highland Council cannot comment on the case of individual children.
“The Highland child protection committee is aware of the case and, in line with national guidance, will consider it.”
