Sex leaflet is 'not appropriate', claims Wigan Conservatives leader

Coun Michael Winstanley says he will write to the council’s chief executive Alison McKenzie-Folan to find out if the leaflet will continue to be distributed to pupils at schools in the borough.

Entitled 101 Ways To Show Someone You Love Them Without Having Sex, the guide suggests young people make “safer choices” such as watching the sun rise and cooking each other meals. But other ideas include buying nice underwear and toe-sucking.

There has been a media frenzy since the Daily Mirror published an interview with Tyldesley dad Carl Lawrence, saying he was “bewildered and shocked” when 14-year-old daughter Emma came home from Shevington High School with the sexual health guide.

Wigan Council initially referred inquiries after the leaflet to sexual health provider Spectrum Community Health CIC, which said: “The 101 Ways were created by teenagers and are referenced by Spectrum in the context of the classroom lessons they support.”

But Coun Winstanley, who represents Orrell, is not happy with the guide.

He said: “I don’t think that this piece of literature is suitable for distribution to children under 16. I think that it is entirely appropriate to encourage children not to engage in sexual activity under the age of consent and to encourage them to think about relationships in a non-sexual way.

“However, advising children under 16 to drive two hours to see someone when they legally can’t drive is complete nonsense. So is advising them to parachute together and to suck someone’s toes.

“It’s no wonder that parents are rightly questioning this type of literature that is being distributed in schools. Any literature needs to be age appropriate and this quite clearly isn’t.

“I am also bewildered as to why Wigan Council won’t provide a response and have passed this on to the producer of the material. Wigan Council have commissioned this piece of work, approved it for publication and presumably paid for it.

“They need to provide answers to the Wigan Council taxpayer as to why they think it is appropriate to distribute this literature.

“This debacle comes hot on the heels of a highly critical Ofsted report on children’s services in Wigan. It’s clear that this department needs a radical overhaul.

“I will be writing to the chief executive of the council to find out why this piece of work has been signed off and why they think that it is appropriate to distribute this in schools and if they are going to continue or cease distribution.

“It’s no wonder that people think Labour are out of touch and wasteful when they distribute this nonsense.”

A council spokesman said: “We are writing to Coun Winstanley to respond to his concerns.

“Spectrum CIC is commissioned by Wigan Council to deliver a comprehensive, evidence-based relationships and sex education programme to high schools across the borough.

“It’s a service run by health care professionals that is utilised across the country and not just in Wigan. We don’t see or approve the material a commissioned service send directly to a school but we will review it with them.

“It’s worth noting that there has been a significant decrease in the number of teenage pregnancies over the last 10 years, which is part down to services like Spectrum.

“The Ofsted inspection was not in connection to our sexual health services, it was in relation to very specific area of one element of children’s services – and raised issues we had already identified and were working to resolve.

“That despite losing £140m a year and demand for social care doubling we have a ‘good’ children’s services with outstanding adoption services, are the third most efficient children’s service in the country on cost and performance in the impower analysis, have over 90 per cent of our schools good or outstanding, excellent performance compared to regional and national comparators for youth justice and the fastest growing school readiness outcomes for under fives in Greater Manchester.”