Many of you have contacted me in recent months about the Welsh government’s plans to introduce gender recognition legislation in Wales.
The background to this is that the Scottish government passed a Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill in December 2022. And the Welsh government said at the time that they intend to do the same. However, in January, the UK government blocked the Scottish government’s from becoming law (using Section 35 of the Scotland Act). The Secretary of State for Scotland at the time explained the Bill would modify the UK Gender Recognition Act 2004 in a way which would effect the operation of the Equality Act 2010 “as it applies to reserved matters”.
In other words the Scottish government could not do something to effect UK wide laws.
When the Welsh government published its “LGBTQ+ Action Plan” in February 2023, it included a wide range of policies and specific actions relating to human rights, education, improving safety, housing, health and social care, sport, culture, and promoting community cohesion.
In particular, the Welsh Government committed to defend and promote the rights and dignity of transgender and non-binary people, and to make them feel welcome and included in Welsh society.
But part of the Welsh government’s plan is to reform the process of gender recognition – similar to the recent bill in Scotland. The “LGBTQ+ Action Plan” states that the Welsh Government intends to “trigger” a request and start negotiation with the UK government over devolution.
In other words, the Welsh government does not have the powers to pass such a bill at present. Importantly, the Secretary of State for Wales has said that “It will not happen in Wales.”
Currently I am the Parliamentary Private Secretary (or PPS) to the Wales Office – so in one of my regular meetings with the Secretary of State for Wales, we took the opportunity to discuss this.
I agreed with him – this should not happen in Wales.
(As it happens, I was also filling the PPS role for the Scotland Office, when the Secretary of State was deciding what to do about the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill. I was also clear then that Section 35 should be used to block the Scottish bill.)
In talking with both Secretaries of State, the wellbeing of people has been at the heart of the discussion – constitutional matters are secondary.
Support for those considering and working through questions of “gender” must not compromise the protections to which women and girls are entitled and deserve.
For example, the UK Equality Act (2010) includes hard won protections for women and girls. This effects women and girls in dozens of everyday ways – access to toilets and changing rooms in schools and in public (eg swimming pools) or single sex accommodation such as women’s refuges, hospital wards etc. It also impacts on the membership of clubs and associations (eg. the Guides, single sex schools) as well as areas like public services and equal pay.
These are important, complex and sensitive matters. I am very interested to hear your views – my thanks to all of you who have written to me about them.
Please feel free to email me.