Sport England: Equality Act 2010

Lord Garnier Excerpts

Monday 19th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

It is for each sport’s national governing body to set its own policies for who can participate in domestic competitions. They are supported to do this through guidance developed by our sports council, which is considering the implications of the Supreme Court ruling. The sports councils’ equality group’s transgender inclusion guidance was jointly produced by our five home sports councils. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, they have said that they are consulting legal experts properly to understand the implications for their guidance.

[Lord Garnier (Con)]

The Supreme Court’s judgment is not difficult to understand, is it?

[Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green (CB)]

My Lords—

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I apologise. I did not hear the end of the sentence, which had the question.

[Lord Garnier (Con)]

I said that the judgment of the Supreme Court is not difficult to understand, is it?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The ruling clarifies the position under the Equality Act. It aligns with what the Government have always said about single-sex spaces. There has been interim guidance from the EHRC, and it is launching a six-week consultation on its draft updated statutory code of practice for services, public functions and associations tomorrow. I encourage all noble Lords to take part if they have views that they would like to feed in.