Equality and Human Rights Commission: Draft Updated Code of Practice

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne]

To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they intend to accept the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s draft updated code of practice for services, public functions and associations.

[The Minister of State, Department for Education (Baroness Smith of Malvern) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government are considering the draft updated code. If the decision is taken to approve it, the Secretary of State will lay it before Parliament. Parliament will then have a 40-day period to consider the code when it is laid. It is important that the correct process for laying the code is followed.

[Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con)]

I thank the Minister for that very helpful response. Given that there is no new legislation and no opportunity for the Minister to refuse or reject the EHRC code of practice, why, therefore, have the government invited the EHRC to make an absolute analysis of the outcome the code of practice would have? There is no new legislation and no other alterations. Is the Minister not thinking that perhaps the Government are out of step and should make the decision as soon as possible? The impact on patients, which I would wish to come and discuss with her, is extremely serious. On a renal transplant unit recently in a major NHS hospital, two trans people insisted on having beds, which the current faulty code allows, and two transplant patients were moved on to the general ward, as a result of which one patient lost his new kidney and nearly died. These are the impacts that failure to act by the Government are actually having on patients.