I AM proud of the work that the parliament undertook in introducing the 2014 Children and Young People Act. 

It is unfortunate that many of the excellent provisions in the act are being overshadowed to an extent by the misinformation about the Named Person, which opponents are attempting to quash by taking it through the law courts. 

The Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach puts the best interests of the child at the heart of decision making, to ensure the child’s wellbeing. 

The named person legislation does not make ‘snoopers’ out of teachers, health visitors etc. 

It simply enables their pastoral and community responsibilities regarding child protection and wellbeing in law. 

This is to ensure that children who need help receive help and children who already have multi-agency interventions aren’t lost in a back and forth between each agency.

It is far better than the alternative, which is either strengthening the powers and scope of child protection officers or allowing more children who are being abused or neglected to fall through the cracks.

This is why it is supported by child protection agencies, children’s charities and other organisations that actually work with and help abused and neglected children on a daily basis.

When tragedies happen, subsequent reviews always point to services not being good enough at sharing information. 

As Martin Crewe of Barnardo’s said: “Children are not born with an ‘at risk’ label on their forehead.” 

We need to get better at recognising the warning signs, because even one failure is unforgivable.