New guidelines issued by the Scottish government will mean that children over the age of 12 found to be having ‘consensual’ sex will not automatically be 
referred to the police.
Professionals working with children should respect “the freedom of young people to make decisions about their own lives”, the new guidelines say information.
Critics have accused the measures of While ministers say they are simply acknowledging the realities of the modern world, critics have accused them of decriminalising underage sex.
Dr Adrian Rogers, the founder of the pressure group Family Focus, said: “This decriminalises underage sex because you rely on social workers to provide impartial care that is based on law. It is very dangerous. This guidance flies in the face of the law, common sense and the duty to protect vulnerable children. We cannot afford the chaos caused when you neglect children in this fashion.”
The Catholic Church said ministers had failed to provide a moral lead on underage sex. “The guidance appears to be muddled and unhelpful,” said a spokesman for the Scottish Catholic church. “Underage sexual activity has been shown to cause many problems for immature young people. Apart from the fact that it is illegal, it frequently leads to a risk of sexually-transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and sadly, abortions.
“With this in mind, Scotland’s adolescents above all need clear moral guidance, which unfortunately is not being provided by government.
“Such ambiguous guidance would present a mixed message which will make the job of parents dramatically harder as they try to set standards for their teenagers.”
While the guidance insists cases where children are having sex with adults should be referred to child protection services, it adds that the only other automatic referral should be in cases where the child is “sexually active and is 12 years or under”.
The guidelines say that around 25-30 per cent of young people do engage in sexual activity under the age of 16, and claims that “this is often part of typical sexual development”. “As such, not all underage sexual activity should be seen to be a child protection issue, although there may be other types of support required by the young person,” it continues.
A recent report, based on figures compiled by the World Health Organisation, revealed that almost a third of Scottish teenagers have had sex by the age of 15. In England, 40 per cent admit to having underage sex. An estimated 5,000 underage girls, from the age of 11, are being prescribed the contraceptive pill.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said: “Our aim is to ensure the guidance is clear and provides the right support to staff in identifying whether underage sex is a child protection concern, and if and when they should share information given in confidence by a young person.
“We expect health professionals and others working with young people to continue to ensure they are fully aware of all the implications of starting early sexual relationships. That is inherent to their work and why it isn’t specifically mentioned in this child protection guidance.”
She said the new Act sees sexual activity with a child aged between 13 and 16 as a criminal offence but subject to a lower maximum penalty than if there was no consent.