SCOTTISH Borders Council has admitted that no extra money has been provided to train the 237 'named persons' who will be appointed to children across the region.

From August 31, a ‘named person’ will be appointed to monitor the welfare of every child under 18 in Scotland.

Opponents of the scheme are attempting to have it quashed, arguing that the legislation amounts to a “Big Brother” scheme that will undermine parents, breach a family’s right to privacy and divert resources away from children who are genuinely vulnerable. 

This week, SBC has revealed that in order to monitor and draw up reports for the 14,500 children of school age in the Borders, 237 named persons will have to be appointed and trained. 

In the majority of cases, this will be someone such as a midwife, health visitor, or headteacher.

This 'named person' has responsibility to monitor the child's welfare and raise concerns, and also has access to medical and other confidential information about the child.

Those appointed will be expected to incorporate their ‘named person’ responsibilities into their existing duties and training will be carried out funded by existing departmental training budgets.

No extra money has been provided by the Scottish Government to meet the costs of training and carrying out the duties expected under the scheme. 

SBC confirmed in a Freedom of Information request, that “no additional budget has been allocated by the Council to facilitate implementation (of the named person scheme)” meaning the costs will have to be taken from elsewhere.

Meanwhile, NHS Borders said the only funding it has received from the Scottish Government was just over £40,000 for two extra health visitors to meet the demand for the scheme to cover 5,300 children up to the age of five.

Opponents argue that the figures highlight how assigning a named person for every single child - regardless of need - will inevitably divert resources away from those who need support and actually increase the risk of vulnerable children falling through the net.