Connections between Named Persons, GIRFEC and ACEs

. WALES

 
SCOTLAND

Sir Harry Burns, Professor of Global Public Health, University of Strathclyde, speaking at a conference: 

"I`m just thinking that there`s a lot of good practice in terms of `Getting it Right for Every Child`and you know working together in Scotland - definitely not starting from nothing in this - those are things happening. But I think that what sometimes happens is all these different agencies are working in silos and we`re doing things, and we`re duplicating what we`re doing, and we had a really interesting meeting with some mental health services and early intervention last week. And they were looking at our training and education and showing us what they were doing in early intervention and they were going into schools and doing some stuff about trauma informed work and we were going into schools and doing stuff about nurturing approaches and we were really having a conversation about the duplication of some of the work that`s going on and I think that in this time of challenging ...resources and how we work together you need to talk to each other more about what we`re doing and I think what`s exciting about ACEs is it`s allowing us that opportunity."

[that is, an opportunity to network and pool resources with a Common Purpose.]

"Because we`re calling it something in education; and social work are calling it something; and health are calling it something else. We need to come together and have a shared language and I`m really excited that this day has been planned alongside Education and Health to develop that shared language so we`re not all going around doing the same thing and duplicating our efforts. And I really hope that is something we can become better at through these conversations."

[i.e. joined up working, joined up data, the total view of the citizen]

A question from the audience: "I`m just wondering what the panel think about taking our youth and engaging them in this whole process. I recently staged a Resilience screening where some young people came and they were really excited afterwards about wanting to take this to young people and to have a screening for young people and their ideas were things like, this could really stop bullying and I was really sort of taken by it and thought, how can we engage our youth? I think of a Ted Talk by someone called George who was a NASA scientist who speaks about how our creativity decreases as we get older. So can we engage the most creative in our communities and get this message out to them? And I wonder what the panel thinks about how we can do that safely without possibly retraumatising. Thank you." 

Harry Burns: "I think that`s absolutely right. Again to come back to the point Alison made. This is not another thing. You know, we`ve had things, you know GIRFEC is a thing and people have responsibilities for delivering that."

[There is no indication from Professor Harry Burns how that may be delivered without also delivering the data gathering `named person`, the person with responsibility, an essential component of GIRFEC which was rejected by the Supreme Court]

"This is about culture. This is about context in our society and it`s a place based thing as much as anything else. So it`s not about a particular department or a particular person that has responsibility for this; this is something that should be second nature to us all, to support people who can`t look after themselves."

[i.e. Essentially he is arguing that all departments should work together, GIRFEC-style, to support people with or without their consent]

=====================

The UNITED STATES points to the underlying thinking behind ACEs which has to do with public/private partnerships and investment opportunities. 

"The evolving realization that investment in prevention results in savings to government has introduced novel private financing strategies for established interventions with predictable outcomes..."

"These emerging financing strategies move human service systems upstream to reduce disease burden and enhance well-being and productivity. By understanding the relationship between interventions, ACEs, and changes in behavioral and general health outcomes as well as overall measures of productivity, a coherent strategy can be developed to coordinate financing, maximize return on investment, and ultimately reduce ACEs and promote health." 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876285917301493
Not without the data, of course.

Mental health assessments

The government has announced "one of the largest mental health trials in schools, which will see 370 schools contributing evidence about the best mental health support and wellbeing practices for chidren and young people..."

"New mental health assessments for children entering the care system will be piloted in nine areas. Five approaches will be used in the trials – two focusing on increasing awareness in secondary schools through specialist instruction sessions and tools to increase understanding, meanwhile three approaches will include primary schools and take a lighter-touch approach with breathing exercises and mindfulness lessons."

https://dfemedia.blog.gov.uk/2019/02/04/education-in-the-media-monday-4-february-2019/

Meanwhile the Mental Health Foundation in Scotland is pursuing its `Make it Count` campaign, one of the aims of which is that all pupils will take part in a `wellbeing questionnaire once a term to identify and address problems early by 2020`.

That is, mental ill health prevention in schools is useful in the sense that it may be used as a justification for collecting personal data.

But charities and governments keep forgetting that data collection without informed consent conflicts with human rights.

Child Abuse, data and wellbeing concerns

Brian Gerrish, Mike Robinson and David Scott are in conversation on UK Column News, 29 June 2018, about the Edward Heath article on the BBC website. "Several people emailed to say: This is clearly a case of `thou doth protest too much.` So all of a sudden we`ve got the BBC and other outlets saying that Edward Health could not have been on the island - channel islands - therefore he could not have been involved in any abuse. And when you look for any substance to this story, this is simply claims from Ted Heath supporters and they say: `Never mind what the police did, we had a look at his diaries. It doesn`t show him there; he wasn`t there; so therefore he`s not guilty of any crimes`. So I`m going to label that with a question mark. BBC seems to be back on its old routine of protecting child abusers."

Normalising paedophilia 

 

"This one several people told me as well. Just incredible. Ted hosted a talk where a young lady took the stage and said, amongst other things, `Let me be clear here: Abusing children is wrong without any doubt. But a paedophile who does not abuse children has not done anything wrong.` As a result of the amount of correspondence to Ted, they`ve taken this video down. But really we`ve got a classic case here of promoting the normalisation of child abuse. Probably that gives a nice lead into David Scott."

Fresh Start Foundation

Mike Robinson: "David let`s start off with the Fresh Start Foundation because here`s Robert Green. We were talking about this [on] last Friday`s news programme here: Robert Green, outside the venue of the Fresh Start Foundation talk. That appears to have not happened."

"No, well it was cancelled at the last minute after discussions on Friday last week. We got a call that due to unexpected maintenance ... the meeting was cancelled. Initially there was a flood... So we went along to the hotel .... to try and see what state the room was in, to see if we could - because this was all very last minute - if it was possible to find a way round this.... to host the event there. They were quite hostile I would say. I`m not quite sure why. We`re customers who had payed a deposit and had been badly let down. So we weren`t treated particularly nicely ... There was no sign of a flood. There was no sign of water. There was one room which didn`t seem to have been used for a while with some plaster down the ceiling. It may have been to do with that; we don`t really know. But the line from the hotel was ... the ceiling had come down and they couldn`t let us use the room. That was unfortunate."

"We managed to book a room just across the road in another hotel... and we advertised that in an hour... You know that one was cancelled as well because they had maintenance going on... The aircom system was being worked on. So although the rooms were there and were empty and there was no sign of any workmen - there were workmen on the roof - so they were going to need access to those rooms. We couldn`t get there either. So that was jolly unfortunate. So at least there`s a lot of maintenance going on in the Aberdeen construction industry. So we`ll all be benefiting. So it`s not a zero sum game here."

"But we went off to the gazebo in Union Street and we had a meeting there and a nice meal afterwards and we had actually a very good day ... Under these sort of conditions people get to know each other that bit better. And a little bit of collective response to adversity never hurt anybody. So it was actually a very good day."

Peter Cherbi`s blog

The next topic refers to Peter Cherbi`s blog who is back on the case of Elish Angiolini, former Lord Advocate of Scotland, who was involved in Robert Green`s case. She has recently been appointed in order to investigate and report on how police complaints are dealt with in Scotland. Cherbi gives a number of reasons why her appointment is a very bad idea.

Read more HERE

Data sharing in Scotland

Mike Robinson: "The Public Commissions Committee. What`s going on here?"

"Well, Alison Preuss and Leslie Scott, my wife, representing the home educators and the Tymes Trust ME charity, have put out a petition together and have sent it yesterday to the Commissions Committee and this is to get an investigation, a public inquiry, into the human rights abuses that have happened in Scotland surrounding the GIRFEC legislation, or surrounding the GIRFEC policy; because GIRFEC, which stands for Getting it Right for Every Child, was a policy whereby information was gathered and shared by the state ... and intervention into family life by the state was generated as a result."

"Now there were certain problems with this and the whole thing was eventually ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court. Problems relate to, firstly, the lowering of the threshold for interventions into family life in which welfare is now known as wellbeing, and wellbeing means anything you want it to mean. It is entirely subjective. So what it gives is the power to state officials, based on a subjective whim, there`s no more to it than that, to intervene into family life, to share information, to investigate families, to investigate children and any associated adult."

"So that`s been going on since around 2013 and there`s a lot of harm; there`s a lot of families who have suffered these investigations and they`re traumatic and there needs to be some form of recompense; there needs to be some recognition of what`s actually gone wrong. And of course the policy`s continued to this day. The current data sharing policy from my own local authority is in this flow chart here."

"And what this says is: `Are you worried or concerned about a child or young person`s wellbeing?`... And if the answer`s YES. `Do I need consent to share information?` NO. `Share information.`"

"So all you need is a worry or concern, which is an emotional reaction or a notion about wellbeing which can mean anything. That`s the current policy in my local authority. So basically there is no data protection if you`re a child or a family with a child in Scotland at the moment. And...that then generates things which can escalate into child protection issues and child protection procedures where there`s no welfare issues; there`s just this assembly of wellbeing worries."

"So that`s what they want, an investigation to stop this, to allow those families who have been harmed some form of remedy; but also to actually inform the state about what is in fact lawful because there`s ongoing consideration of some further Acts to try and sort this mess out and these ongoing considerations don`t seem to be based on any understanding of what has already gone wrong."

Mike Robinson: "So this has had some mainstream coverage. I`ve got the National, as an example of this, but actually it`s had quite a bit of other mainstream coverage in Scotland, David?"

"Yes, the idea that human rights abuse has been happening is now getting through on the mainstream media quite solidly...."
 

More here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILoQdRzNUjQ

The Girfec Octopus

"Campaigners opposed to the Named Person initiative have hit out at the latest `bizarre` creation to explain the controversial scheme – Calamari SHANARRI, the wellbeing octopus. Children are being urged to knit the octopus and make up stories and rhymes about it as part of the Scottish Government’s Getting It Right For Each *Child (GIRFEC) scheme, which includes the Named Person initiative. Each of the octopus’s legs represents one of a child’s eight well-being indicators, which are also referred to in the Shanarri part of the name – Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible, and Included. The octopus has been developed by Crossreach, the Church of Scotland Social Care Council, for the GIRFEC scheme and to teach children to become confident, productive and responsible members of society."

"But a spokesperson for No to Named Person (NO2NP), which challenged the Named Person scheme in court, said: `Calamari SHANARRI` is the latest in a long line of bizarre resources relating to GIRFEC – the policy behind Named Persons.`It’s littered with jargon and recommends strange activities for young children which will be far beyond the understanding of most of them."During the court battle over Named Persons, Aidan O’Neill QC told Supreme Court judges that the legislation was so confusing, it was like wrestling with an octopus. It looks like whoever dreamt up this latest wheeze decided to take that literally.`A Scottish Government spokesman described the octopus as a `useful` addition to GIRFEC materials. A Church of Scotland spokesperson said the octopus was a `playful way to learn about the Scottish Government’s aspirations for children in Scotland`."

* Should be `every`

Read more at: https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/kirk-s-eight-armed-gimmick-comes-under-fire-1-4741968

See petition PE01692: Inquiry into the human rights impact of GIRFEC policy and data processing

The quest for Big Data

Scottish kids are being taught to behave like performing seals:

 
"There is a furious row in Scotland just now about data gathering and information sharing."

"FOI requests have revealed that Police Scotland are running a Vulnerable Persons Database. If the Police think your 'well-being' is at risk then your details are added to the database so you can be monitored. There are, so far, 800,000 people on this database out of a population of 5.2 million – 15 % of the population."

"None of these have been asked if they want this attention from the Police and none were informed. In setting up this database they ignored a recent Supreme Court judgement that said the stockpiling of such data was illegal. They have, in another context, actually now admitted sharing data illegally..." 

http://positiveactiongroup.org/index.php?option=com_attachments&task=download&id=213

"Set up with the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, the system aims to provide a `holistic` approach to child and adult protection."

"It involves collating disparate pieces of information about a particular vulnerable individual into a single file - allowing officers to build a narrative about that person."

"At a supervisor's discretion, the file can be shared with other government bodies - for example health, social work or education - so that the person receives support..."

"Police Scotland has no policy for removing or weeding data from the VPD when it is no longer applicable - which the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said breached the Data Protection Act."

"Det Ch Insp Conway said this was because the VPD was set up as an interim resource, which is now being used beyond its intended lifespan."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-41335762

"England has a National Pupil database which started out as an anonymous statistical tool on school performance. It now holds over 20 million highly detailed records on named children who are not informed how their personal data may be used, for what purposes, and by whom. And, yes, they sell the data to commercial entities."

http://positiveactiongroup.org/index.php?

Child Killings in Fife

From the Review into Liam Fee`s death:

"Amongst professionals who dealt with the family, there was inadequate understanding of the roles and responsibilities of other agencies. There was no clear understanding who was in charge of the case. The role of the named person under the principles of Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) policy was relatively new in Fife at the time and not always fully understood by professionals, and may have contributed to confusion as to who was coordinating care for the family."

The role of the named person in the confusion surrounding this case (and others) was never mentioned in the BBC documentary `Fife`s Child Killings`.

http://publications.fifedirect.org.uk/c64_FinalFifeSCRLF-LearningSummary20.06.17.pdf

Architect of Named Person remains defiant

"A defiant architect of the controversial `named person` scheme in the Highlands has pledged it will continue despite a government U-turn."

"Highland Council’s director of care and learning Bill Alexander insisted it had shown a `positive impact` on children’s welfare and been `totally embraced`."

"But campaigners who successfully fought a legal challenge against data-sharing elements of the `totalitarian` national policy suggested he was in denial about the implications of the Supreme Court ruling."

"Mr Alexander conceded that the information-sharing part of the project was now under review."

"He claimed however that the overall concept has been good for children in the north and should go on..."

"Mr Alexander piloted the scheme, as part of a wider `Getting it right for every Child` policy which was created in 2010 to offer greater protection for vulnerable youngsters..."

"Mr Alexander said: `The critical issue is that the previous version talked about a duty to share information. It’s now a duty to consider sharing information`..."

"`Materially, nothing has changed in any substantial way. We’ll reflect on the legislation and the guidance. We’ll reflect on our practice model guidance and if it needs to be improved on the basis of what’s in the legislation that will go in`..."

"Simon Calvert of the pressure group No To Named Persons (NO2NP) successfully fought the scheme in the UK Supreme Court, forcing significant changes to the scheme."

"Speaking yesterday, he said: `Mr Alexander sounds as if he might need a named person himself to help him with his reading – reading the Supreme Court judgement, that is`."

"The judges regarded his named person scheme as having the whiff of the totalitarian state about it. That’s hardly something to be proud of."

"As far as the beating heart of the Named Person scheme goes, the power to grab and share private information on families, that’s been ripped out thanks to the Supreme Court."

"In that respect, it’s as if the named person legislation was never passed."

"The Court also forced the government to make clear that the scheme is voluntary, though families are still not being given a clear statutory opt out in the new bill..."

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/1280661/highland-care-chief-pledges-north-named-person-scheme-will-continue/

The human cost of the Named Person scheme

[Daily Mail: comment by NO2NP spokesman Simon Calvert]

"The Scottish Government and the Scottish courts were proven wrong in the highest court in the land when NO2NP took the case to the UK Supreme Court, where five judges handed down their verdict which effectively emasculated the scheme."

"For at its insidious heart lay the requirement to use the law to gain access to every house in the land to allow state snoopers unbridled and unwelcome access to every part of a family`s life."

"The court decision meant the Named Person proposals as enshrined in the Scottish legislation were dead in the water. And this new proposal confirms that the Named Person scheme, as originally designed, is history..."

"But at what cost?  Many families have already been victimised and demonised by state guardians in the areas where this perverse scheme has been trialed and tested."

"Decisions have been taken by snoopers which have had dreadful consequences on families, some of whom have even been forced to move home to escape the clutches of their state-sponsored tormentors..."

"Polls have revealed that two-thirds of Scots think the original scheme was an unacceptable intrusion into family life - and that includes 55 per cent of the SNP Government`s own supporters."

"Finally acknowledging the scale of the protest against the scheme, Mr Swinney said yesterday: `We must ensure that we get it right for every child... but in a way that respects the rights of families fully`."

"We should also remember that last year Mr Swinney angrily berated those who pointed out that murdered toddler Liam Fee had been subject to an early version of the Named Person scheme in Fife..."

===========

A recent review report has understood that the additional layer of a Named Person in what was actually a child protection case caused confusion among professionals.

 "The role of the Named Person under the principles of Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) policy was relatively new in Fife at the time and not always fully understood by professionals, and may have contributed to confusion as to who was coordinating care for the family."

http://publications.fifedirect.org.uk/c64_FinalFifeSCRLF-LearningSummary20.06.17.pdf

 

Liam Fee case review, BBC

Breaking down society

 

Domestic Violence

"This is a very troubling situation" says David Scott on UK Column News [12 May 2017] "and it`s come from some poorly thought out legislative proposals. The sort of things they`re talking about...here are putting some sort of listening or tracking device in a toy to monitor a child who is away from one parent ... presumably to gain evidence on the other parent`s inappropriate behaviour... "

"They`re also talking about criminalising controlling behaviour and this has no definition. So it falls down to almost any sort of behaviour which could be painted as unwanted by one party. It is to be criminalised and it comes from an extension of domestic violence legislation to cover non-violent conduct. So if ... one partner is dominating another psychologically that is to be handled by domestic violence legislation and the people who ... put this idea forward are now saying well this latest proposal which comes from a fathers` organisation - Families Need Fathers I think it`s called - this is going too far. This is taking the concept of coercive behaviour as domestic violence and applying it where it shouldn`t be.  But of course the difficulty here is there are no definitions for any of these things. It is all extremely subjective and it criminalises normal behaviour and introduces the state - which is failing to prevent fraud, murder, child rape and indeed covering up all of the above - into families so that they can police families as well.

Mike Robinson: "And take more children perhaps?"

"That`s likely to be one of the end points, yes... As the state`s grip on family life gets ever more firm and the parents disappear more into the background then it`s going to be more and more children will be taken by the state ..."

 

Mike. Robinson:  "And smacking`s to become a form of domestic violence? "

"Well according to the Green Party in Scotland it should be. So this is also criminalising normal parenting... and putting the state here crucially between the child and its parent. So you`re a child. You`re told off and you don`t like the way it went down. So you phone the police ... because a child is not going to realise the horrible implications that has for the child itself and for the whole wider family ..."

"So is this because the Named Person scheme has more or less failed. Is it an attempt by the Scottish government to find other ways to sidle their way into family life?"

"I don`t know if this is exactly cause and effect because of the resistance to the Named Person but it`s certainly coming from the same stable of ideas where the family is seen as dangerous and toxic and the state is seen as all good, all knowing and the saviour of the innocent."

The gender unicorn

"OK, then tell us about gender then."

"This is a gender unicorn. I was quite surprised by this. This is coming from a gender fluid, transgender activist group in America who are now operating in the field of educational resources. That is what the `er` in the title stands for and the gender unicorn is a concept - and there is a colouring book - and a lesson being given to schoolchildren and they`re asked to plot their own gender identity in these various ways ... So you can be a certain gender: male, female, other. I`m not quite sure what `other` is ... and then how that expresses itself. The gender expression is largely how you dress - so we`re one step away from the fashion police here - who you`re physically attracted to and who you`re emotionally attracted to ... I think that`s what you used to call friendship ... and what this will of course do is promote confusion..."

"David, is sex assigned at birth?"

"Apparently so. .. It`s not real, right. The fallacy, the nonsense they`re trying to get across is that your gender is a social construct. It`s fluid. It`s whatever you want it to be. There`s no underlying scientific basis to say whether you`re male or female which is of course garbage and this is being taught to our children. It`s worrying. It`s completely nonsensical. It`s going to be exploited for a whole lot of ill I suspect because on one level it`s confusion and on another level it could easily be termed child abuse because what are you doing here? Who`s grooming people? Who`s introducing ideas into children that will blight their lives? There is a requirement for people to be a bit more responsible I would have thought."

Brian Gerrish: "David, I`ll just come in on this one. I`ll just say.... my personal opinion, I`ve pushed most strongly, that these agendas are certainly not nonsense. The agenda is calculated, it`s constructed in order to do a job which is to attack the minds of young children. It`s certainly there to help break down traditional heterosexual families. This is very very sinister applied behavioural psychology in order to destroy. This is not there to help create happy, loving family environments and people who are comfortable with their gender ... This is a calculated political agenda that has been created. The resources have been created through organisations like this particular one and of course if you go into it a little bit further somebody is funding this stuff. So ... yes many of us regard it as nonsense but the reality is this is a calculated political agenda designed to break down society as we know it. It`s very dangerous."

"Would you like to hear ... TSER`s mission?"

"Trans Student Educational Resources is a youth-led organisation dedicated to transforming the educational environment for trans and gender nonconforming students through advocacy and empowerment. In addition to our focus on creating a more trans-friendly education system, our mission is to educate the public and teach trans activists how to be effective organisers. We believe that justice for trans and gender non-conforming youth is contingent on an intersectional framework of activism. Ending oppression is a long-term process that can only be achieved through collaborative action."

"Is this Soros funded?" asks Brian Gerrish. "I mean that language to me is Open Society. This is change agent material."

"It is, it`s change agent and it`s also saying there is no end . It`s a long term process. So it never ends... There`s never any end to human differences. When there`s differences there`s some form of oppression going on, and we must get in there and we must fight that oppression and break down society until the oppression goes but the oppression never goes. So it`s a never ending attack on society. It`s extremely nihilistic when you get right down to it."

Curriculum for Excellence

 

"The school attainment levels in numeracy and literacy are plummeting and Scotland is plummeting down the educational scale at the international level."

Mike Robinson: "That`s a pretty impressive thing to have happened because of course Scotland and Northern Ireland had traditionally  better education systems than the rest of the UK."

"This was true. It is no longer true. The degree of decline, the steepness of the decline is really quite striking. So you`re not talking about a generational change. You`re not talking about having a completely new group of teachers coming through and being educated in a different way... it`s much more rapid than that. So you`re talking about things which have changed in the organisation of the existing resources. So this is .... Curriculum for Excellence. You can always tell a government programme and what it`s actually going to do by simply reversing the words ... and Girfec, Getting it Right for Every Child. When the Minister responsible, John Swinney, was standing in the Scottish parliament this week trying to explain why the levels of illiteracy in Scotland had doubled he was saying that we are going to remove bureaucracy. This is the bureaucracy the government applied and forced into the school. We`re going to remove it and concentrate on reading, on literacy, on numeracy and on health and wellbeing. So those are the three things. ... Do you notice anything strange about that list?"

"Well literacy and numeracy, we all got when we were at school... Health and wellbeing is up there with the other two in that the number of objectives that schools have to satisfy in health and wellbeing is more ... numerous than the numeracy requirements...  Now health and wellbeing sounds quite benign but it`s not because health and wellbeing is GIRFEC, which is happiness, which is how you think and how you behave. It`s reframing how you act. It`s essentially doing the parents` jobs for them, or seeking to. It`s changing how people think. You then get into sex ed, death ed and all of these things and that reframes how people approach these parts of life. It`s to change society. So the three things we`re trying to do is numeracy, literacy and change society. And because one of those things is actually harmful and taking up a lot of time - even if not harmful - the other two are, not surprisingly, suffering."

Update: Melanie Shaw

Melanie has been transferred to New Hall prison where she is being treated much better than at Foston Hall. She is able to take part in activities and mix with other prisoners. Melanie believes she will be released in July and thanks everyone who has continued to support her.

Brian and Janice Docherty

David Scott informs viewers and listeners that the situation for the Dochertys has improved and they are in contact with support and practical help. Having to go short of food and sleeping rough sometimes  had major health impacts but they are now recovering. "We hope this is the start of the turn around."

 

Mike Robinson. "So last week on Friday you mentioned that you had met Brian and Janice and we knew that they were not missing. But all of a sudden on Wednesday I think it was a whole flurry of articles appeared in the Londonderry Donegal area on various local news websites They all had the same headline. They all had the same text. And it said: Appeal issued over missing couple Brian and Janice Docherty. The PSNI in Derry are appealing for anyone who has seen or knows the whereabouts of Brian and Janice Docherty. They`ve been residing in the city. Brian and Janice Docherty were reported as missing to police last Thursday May 4. A PSNI spokesperson said: Police have received ... information that they may be in the republic of Ireland close to Letterkenny. If you have any information that may help locate Brian and Janice Docherty missing since Thursday 4th May please contact PSNI on 101 or Gardai ... and the number is given. Now this is very interesting for a number of reasons, David. First of all because we knew that they weren`t missing and second of all because every single one of these news outlets had used a copyrighted image which you took of Brian and Janice the first time you met them and this was used without permission."

"And so I approached each of these outlets and asked what they thought they were doing breaking copyright law in this way? And they all came back saying `Oh my goodness. We put this up in good faith. It was sent to us as a press release by Police Service Northern Ireland. And so I have been in contact with Police Service Northern Ireland and I`m waiting for a proper response from them at the moment to explain why they have used an image which they had no right to use in this appeal that they`ve issued. And of course they may just try to justify this by saying well it`s a missing persons issue so we chose an image, the best image we could find, which would help people locate Brian and Janice. But the fact is David that we had announced our knowledge of where they were - at least our knowledge that they were safe and well - five days prior to this press release going out. So to my mind this ... can be nothing other than intent by PSNI to intimidate Brian and Janice, to let them know that PSNI is watching them and I can`t see any other explanation."

David Scott. "There`s no good explanation for it. Let`s remember that Brian and Janice Docherty have broken no law ever. They`re not wanted for anything. ... And yet, and this is not the first time this has happened., they have consistently said they`re under surveillance. Whenever they get to a position where the authorities do not know their whereabouts they`re reported missing. Reported missing by whom I wonder? Not by their friends and relatives. They haven`t been in contact with friends and relatives. So who`s reporting them missing constantly, and why ? What`s the agenda here? Because if you go on holiday to Ireland you wouldn`t expect within five days the Gardai to track you down saying you`ve been reported missing. That wouldn`t be your normal expectation....but that is what happened when they first went to Ireland."

Brian Gerrish: "David I think I can assist a bit here because I`d like to take our audience today back to 1997-98."

He talks about the Bonnie Lewis case (not her real name) which involved Neath Port Talbot social services who falsely reported Bonnie missing in order to snatch her away from the US hospital where she had been successfully diagnosed for her medical condition which up to that point had been mismanaged in the UK.

David Scott. "And mental health services are so often the way these tracks are covered... As people fight what they clearly see as being things which are wrong and fight for truth and fight for justice they find ever more branches of the state reigned against them and they find their situation gets steadily worse rather than the justice they seek provided."

Tim Farron and unaccompanied Syrian children

Mike Robinson asks viewers to share his video which can be found on his Facebook page where he talks about Tim Farron who has made bringing unaccompanied Syrian children into the UK an election issue. Yet according to Mike Robinson in over a year he has never answered his questions about how he intends to ensure the safety of the children brought into the UK. It is important to recall that thousands of children living in the UK go missing from the care system every year. This is a matter that all MPs have known about since 2012 and all need to be pressed for answers. What are they going to do to help protect children in the care system?"

 

Dr Saleyha Ahsan, Dundee University

 

"The Dundee years and their lasting impact on a life that took the road less travelled - Dr Saleyha Ahsan."

"Saleyha is a medicine graduate of the University of Dundee, class of 2006. Before her time here, she was the first British Muslim woman to graduate from the royal military academy Sandhurst as an army officer and went on to serve in the royal army medical corps with an operational tour of Bosnia. While studying medicine, after leaving the army she was awarded an award for her care of the elderly attachment and developed her career as a filmmaker."

"As well as her work as an A&E doctor, Saleyha has had an impactful career as a television presenter, journalist, filmmaker, screenplay writer and has made documentaries focusing on the devastating impact on access to healthcare during war and has spent extended periods of time embedded with frontline medics."

For those in the area who are interested, Dr Saleyha Ahsan will be giving a talk on Saturday 13 May 2017 at Dundee University. Please ask her about the part she played in the BBC Panorama documentary `Saving Syria`s Children.`

See Saleyha Ahsan`s contradictory accounts of the alleged chemical incident in Robert Stuart`s blog below:

https://bbcpanoramasavingsyriaschildren.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/dr-saleyha-ahsan-contradictions-in-accounts-of-alleged-incendiary-bomb-attack/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z72jIbvY900&t=505s　

Hundreds of disabled children are being injured at school

"Hundreds of disabled children were injured in schools while being physically restrained, an investigation has found."

"Pupils were pinned face down on the floor, strapped into chairs, suffered broken bones and one had their head covered with a `spit hood`, according to 5 live Investigates."

"There were around 13,000 restraints resulting in 731 injuries in Britain over the last three years, according to a Freedom of Information request by the programme."

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15212958.More_than_700_disabled_children__injured_in_schools_while_restrained_/

"Data from the Scottish Government confirms that the number of pupils with additional support needs has vastly increased. In 2016, 170,329 pupils (24.9% of all pupils), were identified as having additional support needs and 95% spent at least some of their time in mainstream classes. In 2011, the overall number was 98,523."

"The increase over those five years is 73%. It is hard to see how it is possible to ‘Get it Right for Every Child’ when so many children now have identified needs, and schools are operating within austerity budgets."

"We are also concerned about the lack of resources for professional development and training, which ASN teachers wish to undertake so that they can better meet pupils’ changing needs. Schools lack funding for CPD courses or to cover the cost of supply staff to enable release from the classroom of teachers wishing to undertake relevant professional learning."

"The cuts in staffing resources also mean that ASN teachers have busier workloads and less time to complete incident reports, which can mean under-reporting of violent incidents. We also have concerns about the reduction in educational psychological services."

[The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS)]

http://www.parliament.scot/S5_Education/General%20Documents/20170222ESASNSubmissions.pdf

Named Person review won`t stop damaging state interference

"John Swinney missed his chance this week to do the decent, honourable thing and scrap once and for all the hated state guardian (named person) scheme."

"Instead he restated both his and the Scottish Government’s commitment to this authoritarian move against families and vowed to bring forth new legislation before the summer."

"Contrary to continued misrepresentation of this legislation, the named person is not a child protection measure."

"It is set well below that threshold of a likelihood of serious detriment to the child’s welfare and instead focuses on an, as yet, undefined concept of wellbeing..."

"The factors, which are known under the acronym SHANARRI, are that the child or young person is or would be: `safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible, and included`. These factors are not themselves defined, and in some cases are notably vague: for example, that the child or young person is `achieving` and `included`."

"So the revision to the named person legislation will not address the existing subjective nature of wellbeing assessments that form the basis of named person and GIRFEC..."

"Over the last few years many families in Scotland have had to face the grave consequences of the conflation of these two distinct terms as the GIRFEC state machinery mobilises against them over practitioners’ gut-feelings and subjective judgments."

"The Young ME Sufferer’s Trust (Tymes Trust) has received calls to its advice line from Scottish families faced with such inappropriate and ill-judged interference from the state based on nothing more than wellbeing worries."

"None of the families we have advised have, on further investigation, been found to have been at fault, yet they have suffered the harmful and damaging effects of investigation and reporting to and by the state."

"Nothing in Mr Swinney’s statement to parliament was aimed at addressing this abuse of power and disparity in authority, that currently take place under GIRFEC, in which parents and families are seen not only as the source of all society’s ills but the very shackles that hinder their own children from achieving their full potential."

Read more at http://thirdforcenews.org.uk/blogs/named-person-swinney-must-think-again-as-the-fight-goes-on#UvIaoc7cj819gHVX.99

Alan Watt joins forces to ask: "What`s that coming over the hill?"

As some have suspected GIRFEA is the Scottish government outgrowth of GIRFEC, Getting it Right for Every Child so that the Scottish government, it would seem, is now intent on Getting it Right for Every Adult.
 
Broadcasting about this in Canada, Alan Watts  is incredulous that the Scottish people are allowing what he calls the fake Scottish government to get away with ramming this through. "You see, everybody`s to get managed here...  You`re all to be put into different pathways." (about 34 minutes into the broadcast)

Those of us who follow the ramifications of this policy from the Scottish government are aware that it is less about ramming it through against a protesting population and more about sneaking it in under the radar.

http://www.ukcolumn.org/article/whats-coming-over-hill

What`s wrong with the Named Person scheme

On Friday`s UK Column Mike Robinson said to David Scott: "You`ve published an article on the Column on the Named Person scheme. You said to me earlier... there`s quite a lot going on in this area. Give us an update."

On screen appears a picture of Lesley Scott shown in the article: Incompatible with a free society.

"Well this is from a meeting in Dundee on Monday. Originally we tried to get a debate but the organiser couldn`t find anybody to debate the government side. So it was in fact three speakers on the subject of what`s wrong with the Named Person scheme. With it being in the university there were a lot of people attending from social work and education courses. So that was very good; they were getting a different viewpoint from what`s quite clearly been taught in the university... and there was a further debate later on this week which was again a very striking win for the side opposing the Named Person and showing the origins which go back to Tony Blair and Tony Blair`s determination to intervene before birth in order to sort out these nasty problem families in a way that only the caring state can do."

In the article referred to, Lesley Scott of the Tymes Trust lists some of the strategies being used by practitioners in Scotland to gather data on all children and their families, regardless of the ruling of the Supreme Court.

Parental Capacity to Provide Wellbeing assessments

Health Visiting Pathways

On the Trail with the Wellbeing Snail

The What I think Tool

Wellbeing Cootie Catchers

Children Count Surveys
======================

I`ll just add that new projects to get close to children are being developed all the time amongst the charity sector. Here`s one example for the older child:

"Volunteer with Young Glasgow Talent and YOU can change the life of a deserving young person. Support them through their education and guide them to a positive pathway. The only qualification you’ll need is to put a young person first."

 

This is a mentoring system where a child is encouraged to form a relationship with an adult. There is no doubt that volunteers will have been schooled in GIRFEC and the wellbeing indicators. Children are encouraged to talk about anything they like.

===================================

The next meeting of Northern Exposure will take place on Sunday 5 February, details below.

NORTHERN EXPOSURE

Sunday 5th February 2pm - 5pm

Cathedral View Room

Braeport Centre

Dunblane http://baeport.com/

Introducing GIRFEA

There was always the feeling that if the Named Person scheme went uncontested that it would not end when a child reached eighteen years old: once the file was opened on that particular individual, it would remain so. The Named Person was merely the way to initiate state monitoring of the entire population of Scotland. The Supreme Court judgment curtailing these plans was an important victory.

Now it is horrifying to find out that plans are afoot to introduce GIRFEA, Getting it Right for Every Adult with a proposed single point of contact and its own wellbeing indicators. The committee began by looking at new ways to manage the elderly and it has now morphed into managing everybody.

I have my own reasons to be very worried about this latest development. Twenty four years ago I was treated for hypothyroidism. Ordinarily this is one of the few conditions that is very simple to treat. One tablet a day can restore a person to normality but it does require the correct dose. In my case, I could not get the dose sufficient for my requirements and I was left unable to function. What happens is that a doctor will tend to treat the blood test result instead of the patient. So if the lab report says NORMAL that is taken as the final word on the matter. Strictly speaking doctors should also listen to their patients because the lab result is only an indirect measure of what is happening at the cellular level.

To add insult to injury when I complained that I was being undertreated, it was my mental health that was questioned. That seems to be standard medical practice.

Fortunately, although I seldom could leave my home due to my condition, I did have access to the internet. In my own slow time I was able to research the problem. Probably because there is a private health care system, and people can switch between doctors until they get the treatment they are looking for, a lot of information came from the United States. It only took me a couple of days until I had access to research papers that I could provide to my doctor. He was extremely angry with me but I will be forever grateful that he allowed me to do the trial and decide for myself on the dose. My chemist is well aware how unusual this is because she keeps telling me.

Now I can well imagine that if there had been a single point of contact making decisions about my wellbeing that I could have been left trapped forever in a non-functioning condition. It is becoming clearer by the day that the welfare state is being deliberately collapsed and the state is going to decide who gets treatment and who does not. The elderly are a nuisance; so are the long term sick and disabled which is why they are the first to be targeted.

There always was more to the Named Person scheme than information sharing.

See David Scott`s article on GIRFEA below:

http://www.ukcolumn.org/article/whats-coming-over-hill

　      Published on 8 Feb 2013

Scottish thyroid patients Sandra Whyte, Marian Dyer and Lorraine Cleaver met with Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 regarding their petition, "Effective Thyroid and Adrenal Testing, Diagnosis and Treatment".

      [Their petition didn`t get anywhere.]　

Mum vows to sue council for traumatising son

"Nicola Nash spoke out after council investigation ruled that staff at Hythehill Primary in Lossiemouth showed a `negative approach` towards the vulnerable youngster."

"Nine-year-old Kai has been diagnosed as `neurologically atypical` after being born with brain damage, which means he can be prone to extreme bouts of anxiety."

"But he was shut in a room for more than an hour when he threw a tantrum because a teacher took a book away from him."

"And the upset youngster ran away from Hythehill three times in the space of just three weeks."

"Yesterday, Moray Council apologised to Mrs Nash for the way teachers handled Kai’s problems and vowed to retrain members of staff."

"But she fears her son’s experiences at Hythehill have left him emotionally scarred, and plans to take legal action against the authority for the emotional distress Kai suffered."

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/moray/elgin/1133211/moray-mum-vows-to-sue-council-over-claims-toxic-school-left-son-traumatised/

Interrupting generational disadvantage

"Among the items in the box are a play mat, a changing mat, a digital thermometer, a fleece jacket, several babygrows, a hooded bath towel, a reusable nappy and liners, a baby book and an organic sponge... "

"The boxes are based on a Finnish policy of giving baby boxes to expectant parents and the First Minister said they would ensure every child gets `the best start in life`."

"She handed over the first boxes to parents at Clackmannanshire Community Health Care Centre in Alloa on New Year's Day."

Glasgow Live puts its own spin on it.

"The Children and Families budget for 2017-18 ensured that there would be a Baby Box to promote the fair and equal start ... for every child regardless of circumstances."

So far, so harmless, and then we get GIRFEC.
"Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) [will] enable children and families to realise their potential and interrupt generational disadvantage." Generational disadvantage: what that is suggesting is that it is parents and grandparents who pass on disadvantage to their offspring. You see it is a level playing field out here; it is the family that keeps screwing it. Well they might as well be saying that. It is a pernicious idea that allows governments off the hook. So they do not bother with the economy or the massive banking fraud taking place on a grander scale than the world has ever seen -  they turn a blind eye to that - and home in on disadvantaged three-year-olds with a team around that child.

Baby boxes are supposed to represent the `kinder` face when behind the mask is something quite sinister. It used to be called eugenics.

http://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/first-baby-boxes-handed-out-12391196

Never over-estimate Stephen Brown in his onward journey to old age

"Head of Children, Families & Criminal Justice, North Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership. Chief Social Work Officer, North Ayrshire Council."

While standing by the collapse of the Scottish education system, the underfunding of the NHS and the privatisation of the welfare state, Stephen Brown has the audacity to tweet about the progress of GIRFEC -  the Named Person wreckage that John Swinney is lying so low about. Time to retire Stephen.

The GIRFEC ethos in Inverclyde

"ENTERPRISING Gourock Primary pupils opened their very own cafe — and a lot of money is now brewing for a good cause."

"Youngsters have set up their own business to help raise money for fellow students in Malawi and promote the ‘getting it right for every child’ (GIRFEC) ethos in Inverclyde."

"Their new GIRFEC Games Cafe launched recently and went down a storm with parents, staff and invited guests."

"As well as setting up the tearoom and serving customers, the pupils baked their own cakes which they sold alongside cuppas."

http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news/14931850.Gourock_pupils_open_charity_cafe/?ref=twtrec

Oh wait !

"The 'Named Person' service has not started yet - we are still waiting on a date from the Scottish Government. Once the service starts we will list details of how to contact a Named Person." (last updated 24 August 2016)

https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/education-and-learning/girfec/child-or-young-person

Mmmm. Promoting the GIRFEC ethos in the GIRFEC Games Café went down a storm with parents, staff and invited guests.

It boggles the mind.

As part of their ambitious plan Inverclyde put forward Nurturing Inverclyde: Working together to get it right for every child, citizen and community and has implemented a fully integrated multi-agency family support service in partnership with Barnardo's.
　
So this monumental service is just sitting there waiting for the nod from the Deputy First Minister to get it up and running.

 Expect fireworks that day in the true spirit of GIRFEC.

Number one priority is Getting it Right for You

I see that Getting it Right for You is making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter. It is North Ayrshire Children`s Services Plan 2016 - 2020 and it does make for a shocking read !

It consists of a series of promises to children in several different age groups: Early Years (0-5) Primary school (5-12 years) Secondary school (13-18 years)

They say: "We’ve put it together in this style so that it tells you what we promise to do to help you grow up."

Growing up is seen by these collaborators as so precarious that children need help and they`re the ones with the know how or the means of getting that. Forget your parents.

Here is one example: "We promise to talk to you and your family about your needs and the services we have to support those needs."

It does not enter their heads that children and families might see this as an unwelcome imposition. They also do not seem to realise that their services are very limited. For instance, if you are Tianze,  you will find yourself transported 200 miles away and your family will be obliged to follow you, because there are no adequate services in Scotland. But that problem passes these people by in their enthusiasm to offer unsolicited support.

"We promise to work with you and your family to encourage and support positive family relationships."

From conception onwards, no less. It is obvious that these people have no respect for private and family life; because they are very interested in relationships, especially of the sexual variety. If Nicola has her way: support to understand what a healthy sexual relationship is will begin aged two. But don`t worry, you will be able to read, write and count by the time you leave primary school. After all, this is aligned with Curriculum for Excellence and the Scottish government aims high, doesn`t it ?

http://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/Documents/SocialServices/childrens-services-plan.pdf

In Getting it Right for You, the young person is represented as `Number 1 priority` wearing a yellow star. I don`t think much of the symbolism although at a deeper level I do find it uncannily accurate.

It is hard enough sometimes to separate from your own parents. Imagine what it would be like as a young person trying to get out of the grip of this lot.