Survey should never be repeated

The 2021 survey asked children as young as 14 about their sexual experiences

It was one of the ghastliest initiatives ever considered by a public authority, and anyone who truly believed the Scottish Government’s promise not to share details from its intrusive health and wellbeing census for young people was deluded.

The 2021 survey asked children as young as 14 about their sexual experiences and parents were not given any indication of just how personal the questions were, or were asked for their permission to share the information.

Now it’s been revealed the data is being made available to researchers through Research Data Scotland, a Scottish Government charity launched at the same time specifically to make it easier to obtain health and wellbeing statistics.

Why the Scottish Government felt it necessary to set up a charity is another question, when government data is made available every day without the need for some sort of new quango, but there is a suspicion this was a cover to allow access to highly sensitive information gathered on the explicit condition it would only be used for government purposes.

The questions were so appalling they could not be repeated on television, yet the SNP deemed them suitable for minors and, like named persons and gender self-identification, it is another example of how little heed the SNP paid to reasonable public concern, and what looks like a determination to interfere with family life.

Despite an outcry, Edinburgh City Council, then controlled by the hard left, carried on regardless, but the other Lothian councils took the hint and refused to participate. It should never be repeated.

Sue Webber is a Scottish Conservative Lothian MSP