New research reveals Scottish taxpayers are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds to bankroll the ritual genital cutting of boys, despite calls from within the NHS to end the funding.
A newly published response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request reveals one NHS Scotland paediatric centre, Lothian, is spending “up to £300,000 per year” on non-therapeutic male circumcision (NTMC).
Ritual circumcision is provided at four paediatric centres – Grampian, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Lothian and Tayside – suggesting the true annual figure could be in the millions.
This could be “up to a third of the paediatric surgery waiting list”, the response adds.
The response also shows that NHS National Services Scotland has “made a request to cease funding of NTMC on the NHS in Scotland”.
Circumcising boys is considered a religious rite in some Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities. Scotland is the only UK nation that funds religious circumcision on its NHS.
The National Secular Society has repeatedly called on the Scottish Government to end NHS funding for ritual circumcisions on the grounds that performing dangerous, permanent and painful procedures on children without medical need violates their human rights.
Earlier this month, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville warned of “hard choices” at the upcoming budget. Speaking about the NHS, she said: “we know we need to invest further.”
“That doesn’t seem right”
The FOI response shows Erin McKee – a special adviser to the First Minister – was shocked to learn that Scotland is the only UK nation to offer religious circumcision on its NHS: “can policy please confirm that statement by the [Daily] Record is correct that we’re the only UK nation to offer on the NHS? That doesn’t seem right”.
A colleague responds: “Yes, as far as we are aware, this is not offered in England, Wales and NI [Northern Ireland]”.
The NHS England website lists “permanent reduction in sensation in the head of the penis, particularly during sex” as a potential complication of circumcision.
The General Medical Council, which regulates doctors in the UK, dealt with 39 complaints regarding circumcisions between 2012 and 2022. The complaints include incidents in which children’s penises were left deformed and babies required blood transfusions.
Repeated calls for end to Scottish NHS funding of religious circumcision
The NSS argues performing ritual circumcisions on the NHS is incompatible with the Government’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was incorporated into Scots Law in 2024.
Following a parliamentary question from Emma Roddick MSP in August, the Scottish Government said it “takes the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people very seriously ” and is “currently considering its guidance” on religious circumcision.
Polling shows the public overwhelmingly opposes medically unnecessary circumcision of boys.
The developments come as new draft guidance from England’s Crown Prosecution Service lists circumcision as a potential form of child abuse.
NSS: ‘Scottish Government must come clean’
National Secular Society human rights lead Dr Alejandro Sanchez said: “It is deeply disturbing that the Scottish Government is spending enormous sums of tax payer money to bankroll the ritual genital cutting of non-consenting children.
“At a time of straitened public finances, the Government must now come clean about the entire amount spent subsidising this human rights violation since it was first introduced on the NHS in 2008.”
“Ritual circumcision is medically unnecessary, deprives the child of an important erogenous tissue, and violates their independent right of freedom of religion or belief. NHS National Services Scotland is therefore absolutely right that this practice must no longer be funded on the Scottish NHS.
“Decisions about circumcision must be deferred until the individual is old enough to decide for himself, based on his own values.”
Press coverage:
Daily Record – Scottish Government faces calls to end NHS cash spend on child circumcision