Women and Equalities

Bridget Phillipson Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Written Corrections

The following extract is from the statement on the “For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling on 22 April 2025.

[Bridget Phillipson]

… But this is a judgment long in the making. It began in 2018 when Scottish Ministers issued guidance on the definition of a woman in the eyes of the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018. That guidance stated that a woman in that Act bears the same meaning as a woman in the Equality Act 2010, and included trans women with a gender recognition certificate.

[Official Report, 22 April 2025; Vol. 765, c. 945.]

Written correction submitted by the Minister for Women and Equalities, the right hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South (Bridget Phillipson):

[Bridget Phillipson]

… But this is a judgment long in the making. It began in 2018, when the Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018. The definition of woman in that Act was overturned by the Scottish courts. Scottish Ministers issued revised guidance on the definition of a woman, which stated that a woman in that Act bears the same meaning as a woman in the Equality Act 2010, and included trans women with a gender recognition certificate.