Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools Guidance (2017) in relation to children with ASN: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for confirmation of whether the Scottish Government holds records relating to governance, safeguarding, equality, or due diligence undertaken prior to endorsing, disseminating, or operationalising this guidance within Scottish schools.

Please limit this request to records held between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2020.

Please confirm whether the Scottish Government holds:

1. Any safeguarding assessments, risk assessments, or child protection reviews relating to the guidance.

2. Any equality impact assessments, disability impact assessments, or records concerning compliance with:

• Equality Act 2010
• Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004
• Children (Scotland) Acts
• GIRFEC principles

3. Any ministerial submissions or briefing papers concerning endorsement, dissemination, or implementation of the guidance.

4. Any records discussing the absence of clinical, developmental, or neurodivergence expertise during drafting of the guidance.

5. Any legal advice or legal summaries concerning safeguarding, equality, or implementation risks associated with the guidance.

6. Any grant conditions, monitoring arrangements, or governance records relating to funding provided to LGBT Youth Scotland in connection with development or dissemination of the guidance.

7. Any complaints, safeguarding concerns, or internal reviews relating to implementation of the guidance in schools between 2017 and 2020.

For each category above, please:

• confirm whether records exist,
• provide the number of records held where reasonably practicable,
• and provide copies of records where possible within cost limits.

Response

The response to each part of your request is below.

1. As indicated in the response to FOI request 202600507904 the guidance referred to was developed and published by LGBT Youth Scotland. As a result the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

2. As indicated in the response to FOI request 202600507904 the guidance referred to was developed and published by LGBT Youth Scotland, LGBT Youth Scotland does not hold a duty to produce impact assessments. As the guidance was not developed by the Scottish Government the duty to establish impact assessment (EQIA and CRWIA) does not apply. As a result the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

3. The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. There is information provided in response to part 7 of your request which confirms why this is the case.

4. As indicated in the response to 202600507904 the guidance referred to was developed and published by LGBT Youth Scotland. As a result the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

5. As indicated in the response to FOI request 202600507904 the guidance referred to was developed and published by LGBT Youth Scotland. As a result the Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

6. As part of the response to FOI request 202600507904 the information that was provided to you was the information that was held in relation to the LGBT Youth Scotland Guidance. I confirm that no further information is held. As such, I hereby provide you with formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

7. While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption(s) under section(s) 38(1) b) (personal information) of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why that exemption(s) applies are explained in the Annex to this letter.

The Annex to this request provides some of the information that you have requested, related to the part of your request related to complaints. Some of the information you have requested is already publicly available and I have provided the links to that information within the Annex. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

There is no additional information held in relation to safeguarding concerns, or internal reviews relating to implementation of the guidance in schools between 2017 and 2020.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202600518509 - Information Released - Annex

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