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Keeping you up to date on the progress of the Named Person scheme and the NO2NP campaign.
Guess what: parents want to be involved in decisions about their families
Posted 8 years ago
Sometimes it seems like the Scottish Government has forgotten that parents have responsibility for their children.
But the message from parents who were reached by the Government’s recent “intense engagement” (you know, the one where NO2NP were left out in the cold after Mr Swinney refused to engage with us) came through clearly: they do not want to be ignored.
Representatives at the Third Sector Organisations meeting said: “There is a need to build confidence with parents across the country and include them in the engagement. Some parents feel that this [the NP service] is being done to them and the concerns are wider than simply data sharing.”
The representatives from the Scottish Association of Social Work said that “parents should be informed about the information being shared”, a point also raised by the National Parental Engagement Steering Group.
Others described parental involvement as “essential”, noting that they “should be engaged to co-produce solutions”. Parents also wanted to be treated as ‘equal partners’ rather than sidelined when it comes to decisions about their own children.
A significant statement (well, to the Scottish Government, but not to us) came from parents and staff at HOPE for Autism: “Parents expected to be involved in discussions and decision making about assessments and support for their children and families.”
How radical!
Now we just have to wait and see if the Government will listen closely to the points raised.