Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 03 March 2022
I know that the issues that Ruth Maguire has raised about the potential impact of the changes on single-sex spaces and services have been a clear focus. I want to provide further reassurance on that—as I did in my statement. I have made it clear today and in my engagement with people that the bill does not make any changes at all to the current position on the Equality Act 2010 protections—all it does is simplify a process that has been in existence for 18 years for obtaining a gender recognition certificate.
It is important to say that trans people do not need to have legal gender recognition or a certificate in order to access facilities that align with their gender. Those are protections that trans people and everyone else have under the Equality Act 2010, and nothing in what we are proposing will change that act or current practices.
On what Ruth Maguire outlined could be said of the current process—which trans people have used for years, with no evidence of widespread harm—although we may refer to facilities such as toilets and changing rooms as single-sex spaces, they are not legally defined as such under the Equality Act 2010 and, of course, GRCs are not necessary to access them.
On the wider point about healthcare provision and single-sex services, which could include refuges and therapy groups, the Equality Act 2010 provisions will be unchanged. The act sets out the protected characteristics and provides for exceptions. As I mentioned earlier in response to Claire Baker’s question, there is a general occupational requirement exception, which can be applied in relation to health services when that is appropriate—for example, where intimate health and personal care services are provided.
Our public services have managed those issues for many years. I understand that the EHRC will revise guidance. Perhaps that will help public bodies with the practicalities of how they manage those issues. However, the reality is that they have managed them for many years.
I am happy to keep discussing the details of those matters with Ruth Maguire and others as we take the bill forward.