Fife councillors reject ’intrusive’ Scottish Government sex survey for school pupils

Fife Council’s education and children’s services sub-committee will meet on Friday to consider the content of the Health and Wellbeing Census, which has attracted controversy because of the nature of some of the questions asked of kids as young as 14.

Councillors agreed back in December to postpone its participation in the initiative pending further scrutiny, after Conservative councillor Kathleen Leslie expressed concern.

One question – for pupils in S4 and S6 – probes students' varying degrees of sexual experience, with multiple choice answers including “oral sex” and “vaginal or anal sex”.

Others quiz teenagers on contraception methods, what age they were when they had sex for the first time, and drug and alcohol use.

With that in mind, Labour group leader and council co-leader Councillor David Ross revealed his party will not support the survey’s rollout due to the “personal and intrusive” questions therein.

“The Labour Group of councillors has serious concerns about this survey, reflecting the views of many parents and carers who have contacted us,” he said.

“Whilst we recognise that many of the questions included in the survey are quite acceptable and the information gathered would be helpful in shaping services and support for young people, many of us have serious concerns about the intrusive and very personal nature of the questions on sexual activity, and drug and alcohol use.

“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.

“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.

“For these reasons, when the issue is discussed at the sub-committee on Friday, Labour councillors will be proposing that the council puts the survey back to the Scottish Government with a request for the tracking numbers to be removed and for the questions to be reviewed and revised to ensure they are more appropriate.”

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