State-run development centres for toddlers

Income and poverty statistics

 

It is becoming more apparent that inequalities in Scotland are going to be used as an excuse for the government to interfere in family life despite the fact that increasing poverty over recent years has not been caused by poor families.

Toddlers could be placed in state-run "development centres" to give the Scottish government more control over how future generations are raised.

Ministers are concerned that some children, particularly in deprived areas, are failing to thrive educationally because they come from homes blighted by poverty, drug addiction and teenage pregnancy.

Specialists will go into family homes to check whether children have access to books and toys, and parents will be invited to take courses to learn how to better bring up their offspring. Underprivileged children could also be sent to child development centres for up to 30 hours a week of free childcare from the age of 12 months.

The moves are laid out in a report calling for new measures to help Scottish families with poverty and addiction-related problems. The Health Inequalities Policy review was undertaken by the NHS watchdog for the Scottish government.

Although the plans have been welcomed as a bold step to tackle inequality, critics have warned that plans to increase the role of the state could erode the rights of parents.

The news follows concerns over plans to introduce a named state guardian — such as a health worker or a teacher — for every child. That move is the subject of a legal challenge over fears that it interferes with the rights of parents to bring up children.

Ken Frost, founder of the political blog Nanny Knows Best, said: "It is not the state’s role to lecture people on how to bring up their children."

The report says: "Inequalities in health, between the most and least privileged people and communities, are clearly apparent in Scotland. Social inequalities in early life experiences, education, employment, family life, income and housing can shape people’s health.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/…/…/uk/scotland/article4396743.ece