Catriona Grant says offering support to families should be the first goal of universal sevices
I genuinely believe that Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and the Named Person in Scotland are progressive. I think the backlash says a lot about how we see services in Scotland and perhaps we don't expect services to help.
When I was growing up in England in an old prefab in temporary accommodation I inherited a duffle coat (with big wooden toggles and a pointy hood, it looked like something from the war). I refused to wear it. I would leave for school with it on and then hide it under a bush.
Information sharing is important when it's important but helping makes the difference
Catriona Grant
The winter got snowy and it was noticed at school that I had no coat. The head teacher didn't phone social services or the police, though. Instead she wrote to my mum with a cheque to buy me a coat from school funds.
My mum was angry, but I pleaded with her to buy me a snorkel jacket, which she did from the market, putting the change in an envelope to return to the head teacher with the receipt and a thank you note. I was triumphant.
I suppose the issue is people don't see helping in that way anymore, they would consider that to be a referral. That, I think, is the problem.
I think information sharing is important when it's important but helping makes the difference. Informed consent is crucial to information sharing.
Let’s be clear about it, back when GIRFEC first started, after a domestic abuse incident was reported to the police, every referral was sent to social work and the children's reporter.
It was draconian and a bureaucratic process that helped no child or woman. This is how the police interpreted the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. It was a grim set of affairs that I think caused some of the issues we see today. The police never got over it, and neither in my opinion did social work.
I genuinely believe that universal services are the services that offer support – not gossip, useless referrals, or blame – but support and reassurance.
It puzzles me that we cannot find a way to make this happen. The Supreme Court quite rightly said indiscriminate information sharing is a breach of Article 8 and I fully respect Baroness Hale, one of my legal heroes.
But they didn't throw the baby out with the bath water. Informed consent is crucial to helping families rather than doing things to families. I hope this can get sorted out.
Catriona Grant is an independent social worker and trainer who has worked in the third sector
