Scottish Government keen to work with equalities watchdog after gender ruling

The Scottish Government has said it is keen to work with the UK equalities regulator to ensure “consistent, inclusive and comprehensive guidance” is in place following the UK Supreme Court ruling on gender.

It comes after the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published interim guidance in response to the court’s ruling on the definition of a woman under equalities law.

Earlier this month, the Scottish Government lost a high-profile case at the UK Supreme Court to campaign group For Women Scotland.

Britain’s top judges ruled that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.

The Scottish Government said it is keen to meet with the EHRC “as soon as possible” to discuss the guidance.

In its interim guidance published on Friday, the EHRC said that in workplaces and services that are open to the public, “trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men’s facilities, as this will mean that they are no longer single-sex facilities and must be open to all users of the opposite sex”.

It said that where facilities are available to both men and women, trans people should not be put in a position where there are no facilities for them to use.

The guidance also states that schools must provide separate single-sex toilets for boys and girls over the age of 8.

It is also compulsory for them to provide single-sex changing facilities for boys and girls over the age of 11.

The guidance added: “Pupils who identify as trans girls (biological boys) should not be permitted to use the girls’ toilet or changing facilities, and pupils who identify as trans boys (biological girls) should not be permitted to use the boys’ toilet or changing facilities. Suitable alternative provisions may be required.”

The EHRC has said that there are rules about when competitive sports can be single-sex, which it intends to address separately in due course.

In a statement to the Scottish Parliament earlier this week, Scotland’s Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the Scottish Government fully accepts the unanimous judgment of the court.

She told MSPs that new guidance will be issued to public bodies in line with the verdict.

The Scottish Government issued a statement in response to the EHRC guidance on Saturday.

It said: “We note the interim update from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and that they intend to hold a consultation with stakeholders on their forthcoming guidance.

“We are keen to work with EHRC to ensure consistent, inclusive and comprehensive guidance is in place following the Supreme Court judgement and, following the postponement of last week’s meeting at their request, have asked to meet with them as soon as possible to discuss further.”

The EHRC had been due to meet with the Scottish Government on Thursday to discuss the provision of single-sex spaces in the NHS.

However, it said that on Wednesday the Scottish Government proposed extending the agenda to include the implications of the Supreme Court judgment.

The regulator then postponed the meeting as it wishes to meet with the UK Government first.

The EHRC said it is working at pace to incorporate the implications of the Supreme Court’s judgment.

It aims to provide the updated Code of Practice to the UK Government by the end of June for ministerial approval.