Compliance with the Equality Act 2010 for women's rights
Case reference FOI2025/01029
Received 28 May 2025
Published 23 June 2025
Request
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information.
I am writing to inquire whether you are fully compliant with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010, particularly in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland v. Scottish Government (UKSC16).
As you will be aware, the Supreme Court has ruled that the legal definition of woman, within the Equality Act, is based on biological sex. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) interim guidance confirmed that if facilities are provided for women these facilities are reserved for biological women.
I would be grateful if you could provide the following information.
1. Previous or Current Service Delivery:
Please provide copies of any policies, guidelines, internal memos or external communications that set out the Council’s approach to allowing males who identify as women (either with or without a GRC) to use spaces or services designated as for women. These services can either be commissioned or provided directly by the Council.
2. Policies:
Provide a list of all policies and practices that are under review to ensure they align with the Supreme Court’s clarification of the Equality Act 2010 following the For Women Scotland ruling. If no policies are currently under review has there been a decision about when this work will be undertaken?
3. Equality Impact Assessments:
Provide a list and copies of all Equality Impact Assessments that are under review to ensure they are in line with the Equality Act 2010, particularly with regard to policies that affect women and sex-based rights.
4. Monitoring and Compliance:
What measures are in place to ensure that, going forward, women’s rights are not compromised under any of the Council’s policies once existing policies have been updated to reflect the ruling of the Supreme Court?
Response
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information.
I am writing to inquire whether you are fully compliant with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010, particularly in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland v. Scottish Government (UKSC16).
As you will be aware, the Supreme Court has ruled that the legal definition of woman, within the Equality Act, is based on biological sex. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) interim guidance confirmed that if facilities are provided for women these facilities are reserved for biological women.
I would be grateful if you could provide the following information.
1. Previous or Current Service Delivery:
Please provide copies of any policies, guidelines, internal memos or external communications that set out the Council’s approach to allowing males who identify as women (either with or without a GRC) to use spaces or services designated as for women. These services can either be commissioned or provided directly by the Council.
Answer: This information is not held. The Service Area have advised we currently have no policies or guidelines setting out an approach to this subject.
2. Policies:
Provide a list of all policies and practices that are under review to ensure they align with the Supreme Court’s clarification of the Equality Act 2010 following the For Women Scotland ruling. If no policies are currently under review has there been a decision about when this work will be undertaken?
Answer: N/A. The Service Area have advised no decision has been made about when such policies should be produced.
3. Equality Impact Assessments:
Provide a list and copies of all Equality Impact Assessments that are under review to ensure they are in line with the Equality Act 2010, particularly with regard to policies that affect women and sex-based rights.
Answer: The Service Area have advised we do not have a process for collating a list of EIAs, which are currently under review across the organisation. EIAs are specific to individual Services, polices and procedures, and are the responsibility of each Service Manager.
We would therefore have to go to every Service Area to request this information. Unless there is a specific Service Area you are interested in, it would take over the Appropriate Time Limit which equates to 18 hours as defined by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees) Regulations 2004 to retrieve this information. If there is a specific Service Area you are interested in, please let us know.
4. Monitoring and Compliance:
What measures are in place to ensure that, going forward, women’s rights are not compromised under any of the Council’s policies once existing policies have been updated to reflect the ruling of the Supreme Court?
Answer: The Service Area have advised our EIA template has been updated to include a prompt about single-sex service provision. The EHRC is currently consulting for the purposes of updating its code of practice, and we await that guidance to ensure that we fully understand and reflect the Supreme Court ruling.
Documents
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