Latest news with #Humpherson
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Review over school sex survey to be published
Scotland's chief statistician has been told to publish the results of a review into a controversial school sex survey which was first requested almost three years ago. The Scottish government's Health and Wellbeing census hit the headlines in 2021 after asking pupils as young as 14 about their sexual experiences. The boss of the UK's Office of Statistics Regulation (OSR) wrote to the Scottish government in 2022 warning that they had "underestimated the significance" the survey would have for parents and the wider public. He ordered them to review how the survey questions were designed and the way it was tested but the findings have never been published. In a strongly-worded letter seen by BBC Scotland News, the director of the OSR, Ed Humpherson, has now demanded that the government publish the review within 30 days. He said it was key to providing users with important methodological information that would support transparency and trust in the Scottish government. In response, the Scottish government said it would publish the review within the 30-day deadline. It also said the chief statistician for Scotland - Alastair McAlpine - would reply to Mr Humpherson's letter shortly. In the letter, the UK stats watchdog boss told Mr McAlpine that the Code of Practice for Statistics set out a requirement for his role to show "independent decision-making and leadership". The code says that the chief statistician should have "sole authority" for deciding on methods, standards and procedures of official statistics. Mr Humpherson asked Mr McAlpine to provide "assurance on the processes and governance within the Scottish government that allow you to carry out this role effectively". The Health and Wellbeing census was organised and promoted by the Scottish government but half of Scotland's 32 councils pulled out following concerns about a lack of informed consent and worries over the anonymity of pupils. In the end, about 130,000 pupils answered the questions online in classrooms and were told on the survey form itself that the information would not be shared. The questions that were asked varied for different age groups but those in S4 (ages 14 and 15) were asked about their sexual relationships and contraception. One question asks: "People have varying degrees of sexual experience. How much, if any, sexual experience have you had?" The multiple choice answers include "oral sex" and "vaginal or anal sex". At the time of the survey, campaigners warned that it must protect children's right to privacy and give informed consent. However, consent was done on an "opt-out" basis, meaning parents or pupils had to specifically refuse to take part. Parents said they were not told the nature of the questions in advance and were not asked to agree that their children's private information could be shared. Gavin Yates, the executive director of parents' organisation Connect, said it was really disappointing that years later there still was not "full transparency" about the survey. "Finding out what young people think is really important but data must be collected in an ethical, open way with proper opt-in consent," he said. "It's clear that it's time for the full review to be published so we can establish what happened and how protocols will need be changed to put things right. "If the parents that initially raised this issue were listened to at the time then these matters could have been properly dealt with years ago." The intervention by the OSR comes two weeks after BBC Scotland News revealed that data from the survey was being advertised to external researchers, despite promises to children ahead of the survey that this would not happen. The Scottish government later withdrew access to the data. School pupil 'sex survey' data offered to researchers Access to 'sex survey' data paused by government What is the school 'sex survey' row about?
BBC News
17-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Review over school sex survey to be published 'in 30 days'
Scotland's chief statistician has been told to publish the results of a review into a controversial school sex survey which was first requested almost three years Scottish government's Health and Wellbeing census hit the headlines in 2021 after asking pupils as young as 14 about their sexual boss of the UK's Office of Statistics Regulation (OSR) wrote to the Scottish government in 2022 warning that they had "underestimated the significance" the survey would have for parents and the wider ordered them to review how the survey questions were designed and the way it was tested but the findings have never been published. In a strongly-worded letter seen by BBC Scotland News, the director of the OSR, Ed Humpherson, has now demanded that the government publish the review within 30 said it was key to providing users with important methodological information that would support transparency and trust in the Scottish response, the Scottish government said it would publish the review within the 30-day also said the chief statistician for Scotland - Alastair McAlpine - would reply to Mr Humpherson's letter the letter, the UK stats watchdog boss told Mr McAlpine that the Code of Practice for Statistics set out a requirement for his role to show "independent decision-making and leadership".The code says that the chief statistician should have "sole authority" for deciding on methods, standards and procedures of official Humpherson asked Mr McAlpine to provide "assurance on the processes and governance within the Scottish government that allow you to carry out this role effectively". The Health and Wellbeing census was organised and promoted by the Scottish government but half of Scotland's 32 councils pulled out following concerns about a lack of informed consent and worries over the anonymity of the end, about 130,000 pupils answered the questions online in classrooms and were told on the survey form itself that the information would not be questions that were asked varied for different age groups but those in S4 (ages 14 and 15) were asked about their sexual relationships and question asks: "People have varying degrees of sexual experience. How much, if any, sexual experience have you had?"The multiple choice answers include "oral sex" and "vaginal or anal sex".At the time of the survey, campaigners warned that it must protect children's right to privacy and give informed consent was done on an "opt-out" basis, meaning parents or pupils had to specifically refuse to take said they were not told the nature of the questions in advance and were not asked to agree that their children's private information could be shared. 'Full transparency' Gavin Yates, the executive director of parents' organisation Connect, said it was really disappointing that years later there still was not "full transparency" about the survey."Finding out what young people think is really important but data must be collected in an ethical, open way with proper opt-in consent," he said."It's clear that it's time for the full review to be published so we can establish what happened and how protocols will need be changed to put things right."If the parents that initially raised this issue were listened to at the time then these matters could have been properly dealt with years ago."The intervention by the OSR comes two weeks after BBC Scotland News revealed that data from the survey was being advertised to external researchers, despite promises to children ahead of the survey that this would not Scottish government later withdrew access to the data.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Stop conflating sex and gender, NHS told by watchdog
The NHS has been told by a watchdog to stop confusing the terms 'sex' and 'gender' in official data. NHS England was accused of conflating the two terms in its staff survey, which asked about 'gender discrimination' and whether a person's gender had an impact on career progression, rather than their sex. The complaint by the Sex Equality and Equity Network for NHS employees (SEEN in Health) said it had been 'inundated with concerns from employees' about the data being collected from the health service's 1.5 million staff. Some staff are understood to have boycotted the data collection because of concerns about its accuracy. The tangling of sex and gender throughout means 'analysts will be unable to determine progress made to reduce sexual harassment towards women', SEEN in Health said. The UK Government defines sex as 'referring to the biological aspects of an individual' while gender is 'where an individual may see themselves as a man, a woman, as having no gender, or as having a nonbinary gender'. The Office for Statistics Regulation (ORS), the stats watchdog, has agreed that the NHS must improve the clarity in its survey for 2025, in a letter seen by The Telegraph. Ed Humpherson, the director general for regulation at the ORS, wrote: 'We consider that NHS England should look to provide clearer guidance and definitions to both survey respondents and data users in future surveys.' In one question, NHS staff were asked: 'Does your organisation act fairly with regard to career progression/promotion, regardless of ethnic background, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age?' But it failed to list all protected characteristics under the Equality Act, which includes sex or gender reassignment, despite 'previous staff surveys indicating high rates of sexual harassment of women', SEEN in Health said. The network also said it failed to 'ask the respondent if they have experienced sex discrimination, despite the NHS introducing the Sexual Safety in Healthcare charter [last] year'. 'As with the previous question 'gender' has no legal basis and the NHS cannot assume that all respondents will understand that gender, in this instance, presumably refers to sex,' it said. The next question asked about staff's 'experiences of unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature', but the group argued the previous conflation and errors in use of the terms meant it would not give an accurate picture of 'progress made to reduce sexual harassment towards women'. Further questions ask staff for information on the gender that best describes them, with the critics saying 'the survey also compels, by way of not including an option to state 'do not have a gender identity' in 27a, respondents to acknowledge a belief they may not have'. The NHS uses the data collections to inform its internal activity including recruitment and communications, such as through the establishment and promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion teams and their work. Mr Humpherson said while the official statistics could not be 'declassified' because they had not been accredited and that it was not within the OSR remit to determine their legality, the concerns could be escalated to the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He said the OSR 'agree that there is scope for NHS England to be clearer about which concept the survey is aiming to collect and that a lack of clarity could result in the distinct concepts of sex and gender identity being conflated'. The OSR last year set out its own updated guidance on the collection of gender identity data. The results from the 2024 edition of the NHS questionnaire, which reveals insights into staff morale, workload, and pressure, as well as issues such as bullying, discrimination and harassment, are yet to be published. The OSR said NHS England had agreed to review the terminology it would use in its 2025 survey. Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at human-rights charity Sex Matters, said: 'Yet again we see people who should know better describing this as 'a complex and evolving area'. The simple reality is that everyone is either male or female, no matter what they feel or say about their 'identity'. 'Everyone knows what sex they are, and when data about sex is needed, it's perfectly reasonable to ask a straight question and expect an honest answer. 'This is the approach that all public authorities should take in order to restore accuracy and robustness to official statistics across the board. NHS England was asked for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
