The provision of a Named Person is part of the GIRFEC approach as contained within the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. Health visitors, head teachers and guidance teachers in many areas of Scotland already offer this service, which is planned to be available nationally by 31st August 2016.

A Named Person is somebody each child knows they can go to at any time they need help or just want to speak to someone. For children from birth until they start school, the Named Person is the health visitor, while the head teacher or depute head teacher is the Named Person for children once they start school.

The creation of the Named Person role aims to build on existing good practice, formalising a role that health visitors, teachers and others already have in terms of providing care, advice and information. It does not replace the role of the parent or carer and the Named Person will not actively monitor children, families or young people in an effort to find problems. They will respond to requests for help from a child, young person or parent and any others who work with particular children/ families and have concerns for a child’s wellbeing.

There are duties on a range of public bodies to share relevant information in an appropriate and proportionate way, and to support the role of the Named Person and delivery of the Child’s Plan. All of the duties fall on organisations and not on individual members of staff, but will apply to all services delivered by relevant organisations and hence to all practitioners who are in the position to support the wellbeing of a child or young person.

Duties apply to services directly provided via children’s services, or indirectly, such as in adult services supporting parents, carers or those who have contact with children in the family setting. A wide range of practitioners will be required to think about children’s and young people’s wellbeing in the course of their day-to-day activities, when exercising functions under the Act. This could include: addiction workers; housing officers; fire or police officers; health workers, or; Third Sector organisations and independent contractors delivering functions on behalf of the local authority or health board.

Access to a Named Person is an entitlement and while the Named Person has a duty to respond to a worry about a child or young person’s wellbeing there is no obligation on families to take up an offer of help.

The GIRFEC approach runs through all the work that community planning partners do with children, young people and their families in Stirling. The joint Integrated Children’s Services Plan (2015 – 2018) identifies embedding GIRFEC principles and processes in all partner organisations. Implementing GIRFEC provisions in the Children and Young People Act will build on this established approach.

More information is available on the Scottish Government website.