Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 8
Third report- Reform of the Gender Recognition Act
Published 21 Dec 2021
Paragraph 75
Addressed to Government Equalities Office
Women and Equalities Committee Reform of the Gender Recognition Act All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We remain frustrated at the degree of engagement by the Government Equalities Office and the Equality and Human Rights Commission. These key bodies have a vital role to play in enforcing and enacting real change in this area. They should be willing to participate in ongoing discussions with this Committee about the concerns of its stakeholders. We condemn the negligible engagement with our inquiry by both the Government Equalities Office Ministers and the EHRC, and the delay in response to the consultation which further polarised and toxified the debate. We call on the Ministers of the Government Equalities Office and the leadership of the EHRC to restate their commitment to cooperating with this Committee in all future inquiries. We also call on the Leader of the House, the Speaker of the House and the Chair of the Liaison Committee to respond to the concerns we have raised and take action to ensure that the Ministers comply in future with these accountability procedures and the Ministerial Code.
From: Women and Equalities Committee, Third report- Reform of the Gender Recognition Act (HC 977), paragraph 75, 21 December 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 24 March 2022 (deadline 21 February 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that its September 2020 position on the Gender Recognition Act "is right and appropriate" and that it will not change the legislation, while pointing to administrative improvements such as the fee cut and digitisation.
- On the diagnosis of gender dysphoria, the government declines to remove it, saying the requirements ensure the process is "rigorous", but says it will amend the reference to a "disorder" via a remedial order "in due course".
- It does not consider it necessary to change the statutory declaration, and considers it "equitable" for spousal consent to remain, as it is a safeguard for the non-transitioning spouse.
- It says the digital application process is in testing and "will be operational by summer 2022", and that applicants can still use the paper process if they prefer.
- It does not consider a formal healthcare strategy for transgender and non-binary people necessary, while DHSC says it is "happy to provide the Committee with annual updates" on the pilot clinics' progress and waiting times.