Fife councillors halt roll-out of controversial sex survey for school pupils

Fife Council has decided to postpone the rollout of a controversial survey which poses school pupils personal questions about topics including their sexual activity.
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The Scottish Government has faced calls to pull its Health and Wellbeing Census amid criticism it asks pupils aged as young as 14 intimate questions on sexual experiences, including whether they have had anal or oral sex, and drug and alcohol use.

Fife had previously paused its involvement to review the questionnaire’s content, but local councillors have now formally voted to refer the survey back to the Scottish Government.

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Members of the region’s education and children’s services sub committee had been asked on Friday to agree the range of age-appropriate questions that children and young people would be asked and also to note that any information would be collected for “statistical and research purposes only” - as part of the local authority’s duty to plan for children’s services in the Kingdom.

The decision effectively punts the issue back to the Scottish GovernmentThe decision effectively punts the issue back to the Scottish Government
The decision effectively punts the issue back to the Scottish Government
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However, a Labour amendment has effectively punted the survey back to Holyrood, asking the Scottish Government to consider the approach to data collection to ensure complete confidentiality and to review the appropriateness of all questions - in particular those about sexual health - in light of parental and carer concerns.

Councillor Linda Erskine, who tabled the amendment for Labour, concluded: “The issue for me is the relevance and the extremely intrusive nature of some of the questions being asked as part of this.”

SNP committee convener Craig Walker had put forward a “compromise” amendment which aimed to alleviate concerns over anonymity and questions deemed inappropriate by some.

Cllr Kathleen Leslie - the report raised more questions than answers (Pic: Fife Photo Agency)Cllr Kathleen Leslie - the report raised more questions than answers (Pic: Fife Photo Agency)
Cllr Kathleen Leslie - the report raised more questions than answers (Pic: Fife Photo Agency)
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That would have seen the survey go forward but without the sexual health section in its entirety, with a further workshop to be held to discuss the questions being asked and a further report to be brought back in March.

He was also willing to remove pupil candidate numbers from the surveys to stop identification, although it would ask for part-postcode, gender and ethnicity.

Despite that, Conservative councillors withdrew a motion they had put forward and backed the Labour amendment - meaning it was voted through 10-8.

Councillor David Ross, Fife CouncilCouncillor David Ross, Fife Council
Councillor David Ross, Fife Council

Conservative councillor Kathleen Leslie added: "Today's debate and report has led to more questions than answers - I still don't think this survey is fit to roll out."

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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously insisted the census is confidential and “ensures that any results of the research or resulting statistics will not be made available in a form which identifies individual children and young people”.

One of the survey questions - aimed at pupils in S4 and S6 - asks: 'People have varying degrees of sexual experience. How much, if any, sexual experience have you had?'

Multiple choice answers include 'oral sex' and 'vaginal or anal sex'.

It also asks how many people they have had sexual intercourse with in the past 12 months, and also poses questions on drug and alcohol use, gambling, eating behaviour and body image among others.

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The census was also to be given to children in years P5, P6 and P7, but the younger groups' questions are targeted at matters such as physical activity, mental health and sleep patterns.

Education officials in Fife argue there is no suitable alternative, equivalent survey available for use across Scottish education which covers the breadth of topics offered by the census.

Rona Weir, education manager, also told councillors that parents and children themselves could opt out of the survey if they wanted to or leave answers blank if they felt uncomfortable.

Dr Joy Tomlinson, director of public health at NHS Fife, described the survey as “very important” - not just from an education standpoint but a societal one.

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“We glean so much about the difficulties young people are experiencing and the harms to their wider health,” she said.

“We know we have really big challenges here in Fife and one of those is teenage pregnancy, so we have to look at this.

“This is about us as a population understanding the needs of our young people and it’s really important to have this survey this year and make sure we’re getting things right.

“I don’t think we should be fearful and it’s always welcome to have a debate about these things.”

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SNP councillor Fay Sinclair said: “Teenagers know about sex, teenagers are having sex.

“I think we’d be doing our young people a disservice not to expose them to any mention of this.”

But Conservative councillor Andy Heer was one of those unconvinced about data protection issues, suggesting the use of pupil candidate numbers on the survey would not make it anonymous.

“If it’s possible then there’s always the possibility of someone somewhere misusing that information,” he added.

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George Haggerty, Catholic church representative on the committee, also said parents were very concerned about the content of the survey and the speed of which it was being rolled out.

“I’m not against research - I’m against a blunt, blanket, big bang approach to this,” he commented.

Around a third of Scotland’s 32 local authorities have refused to take part, with only eight councils fully committed to sending out the survey.

Labour councillor and Fife Council co-leader David Ross indicated earlier this week that his party would not support the survey rollout as it stands.

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“We are especially concerned that responses to the survey will not be truly anonymous and that it will be possible to track responses back to individual young people,” he stressed.

“Assurances from Scottish Government that this will only happen in rare circumstances are insufficient to address our concerns and we have no confidence that this information could not be used for other purposes than child protection.”

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