Children's tsar attacks 'bogus' ban on photos

Now Scotland's Children's Commissioner has supported calls for the creation of a cohesive nationwide policy so children can look back on a "record of their past".

There are concerns that youngsters are missing out on having key moments of their childhood recorded for posterity as a consequence of over- zealous enforcement policies.

The investigation has found the approach to the contentious issue of photographing children varies widely across Scotland's 32 local authorities.

The findings will be revealed tomorrow as part of "Parent Paranoia", an investigation by journalist Eamonn O'Neill for BBC Radio Scotland's Call Kaye programme.

In the programme, some parents reported being asked for identification and being told to delete images while trying to take shots of children at council-owned facilities such as swimming pools.

Asked if he would back a move to introduce a revised national policy, Tam Baillie, Scotland's commissioner for children and young people, said: "Not only would I be welcoming of that, I think councils faced with these dilemmas and decisions day in, day out would welcome it."

He added: "I want children to have a childhood free from discrimination in a society that respects their rights where they can grow up with dignity. Some aspects of that are about having a record of your past and where you've come from. We know that for children with care experiences, for instance, how important it is for them to have a representation of their childhood."

Fiona Whiteman, a mother of three from Livingston, was stopped from taking a photograph of her child at a nativity play. She said: "I was slightly annoyed that because one parent doesn't want their child's picture taken, everybody's missing out on the opportunity to photograph their children's experience."

June Savage, from Edinburgh, was told to stop taking pictures of her son at a council-run leisure centre on his first birthday.

"It was a bit farcical, really. We were within the caged area of the soft play centre and the member of staff came up and spoke to us from the other side. We felt like we were animals in the zoo."

Sarah Shiels, a lawyer, also from Edinburgh, decided to mount a legal action against the city council after she was told she would not be allowed to take images of her daughter playing Mary at a nativity.

She said: "There had been no consultation with parents or schools. From what I gather, it came as a shock to the headteachers as much as parents. It was government by dictat, and I knew that wasn't probably lawful.

"It bugged me the way it came out of the blue. I was angry that I was going to miss the opportunity. Once you've missed that with a child, you can't ever get it back.

"You can't make them ride their bike for the first time again, or swim for the first time on their own again."

Following the row in 2003, the council relented and withdrew its policy. Similar rules, however, are still being enforced by other local authorities, albeit inconsistently.

While some councils vow to ban anyone found flouting their rules, or adhere to rigorous policy documents, others wrongly believe pictures would flout data protection laws, and demand the consent of everyone who might appear in a picture. However, some local authorities maintain no official policy whatsoever.

Such is the uncertainty that the UK information commissioner has issued a guidance note, making clear that photos taken in schools for purely personal use are exempt from the Data Protection Act 1998.

Morag Driscoll, director of the Scottish Child Law Centre, believes such patchwork policies hamper the development of children.

"Is it proportionate to the risk of harm? No, it's not. What harm are you doing if the back view of somebody else's child appears in your photograph? They're not sexual images."

• "Parent Paranoia" will be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland's Call Kaye tomorrow at 8.45am.