SNP MP Hannah Bardell says councils' rebellion over Scot Gov pupil sex census is "regretable"

Three in four councils are either not taking part, censoring it or are reviewing its content.

Parents had raised questions about the content of the government's census which asks pupils as young as 14 intimate questions on their sexual activity - effectively asking them to confess about illegal acts.

The Information Commissioner's Office, which is responsible for upholding data privacy is looking into concerns that the controversial census billed as anonymous by Nicola Sturgeon as for "statistical and research purposes only" is not strictly confidential.

Some 10 of Scotland's 32 local authorities have now refused to take part in the survey while three others are making changes, two directly over the sexually explicit questions. A further 11 are still reviewing its content.

The numbers that have clearly said they will distribute the survey as provided by the Scottish Government has been cut from ten as of six weeks ago to eight. Five of the eight are SNP-led - Glasgow, Stirling, South Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire and Dundee.

Ms Bardell, the MP for Livingston has defended the census in the wake of the continuing backlash accepting that there is a danger that the Scottish Government will only get a partial view of child behaviour.

Asked by the BBC if the survey was to be pulled, Ms Bardell said: No. The First Minister has been very clear that we, can't stick your head in the sand.

"Young people don't have to answer these questions if they don't want to. I think it is regretable that a number of councils have pulled this."

One of the survey questions - aimed at pupils in S4 and S6 - says: “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.

The census, the full details of which are not available to parents, is to be given to kids in P5, 6 and 7 but the younger groups' questions are targeted on matters such as physical activity, mental health, sleep patterns, social media, body image, and bullying. It also quizzes them on how easy it is to talk to family members about things that bother them and whether their parents really care about their education.

Ms Bardell told the BBC on Politics Live: "These were questions that I was asked as a teenager when I was at school. You know, I didn't face anything like the challenges that young people face now in terms of the levels of online pornography, online harms.

"How can we make good policy and how can we help support young people to learn about relationships that are so important. The levels of misogyny, and violence against women at the moment is an epidemic and part of that is because we had such poor sex and relationships education. I know what mine was like, it was absolutely appalling pre-devolution and we have a duty and a moral duty to young people to make sure we get it right for them. And we will only be able to do that if we have the best possible data."

Former teacher Miriam Cates, the Conservative MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge says she had "serious concerns and that there were "worrying safeguarding flags" around the census.

"I think to be asking children intimate and intrusive questions from a position of authority and implying to them that they should answer these honestly and you know, even to strangers potentially even though it is through a form and they are identifiable raises some serious red flags.

"I completely agree that we need to be supporting children and educating them and teach them about consent.

"But I worry what it says when we're saying to children as young as 14, it is good, it is right, it is encouraged to reveal intimate details about your sexual activity to somebody in authority.

"We know that there are young women, young girls under the age of consent, being pressured into an enormous amount of sexual activity.

"Are we normalising sexual activity in children such that children come away from this survey and think that if I'm not doing this, I'm not normal. Yes we do need information about what is happening to our children.

"But we have to be very, very careful when they are identifiable and we are giving an impression that it's okay to talk about these kinds of details with strangers and people in authority."

Complaints have been lodged with the ICO after concerns were raised that Scottish ministers were bringing in its 'snooper's charter' under the radar as it emerged that its controversial and sexually explicit health and well-being census for children was not totally confidential.

While local authority messaging to parents has been that the survey is anonymous and is "for research purposes only", the privacy documents over the scheme show that local authorities can act on behalf of children if any answers raise concerns.

Scottish Government-produced information on privacy states that no-one other than a small team of analysts and IT support staff within each local authority will see the answers provided by children and young people.

It says: "If analysts within your local authority see anything in the answers provided by some children and young people that raises some concerns, they may need to do something to help these individuals."

Ms Bardell said: "The only reason that the young people who've taken part in the survey are identifiable is so that if they disclose some kind of abuse or issue they can be identified otherwise, it is anonymous, and I understand that that may be a concern for people..."