Oral Answers to Questions

Rebecca Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 30th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Douglas Lumsden (Aberdeen South) (Con)]

4. How many biological male prisoners are held in the general women’s estate.

[Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)]

15. How many biological male prisoners are held in the general women’s estate.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

There are fewer than five transgender women in the general women’s estate. The exact figure cannot be provided without breaching data protection legislation obligations.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jake Richards]

The judgment in Scotland relates to prison rules that apply in Scotland only—England and Wales have separate rules, as the hon. Gentleman will no doubt know. I gently remind him that the rules in England and Wales were introduced in 2023. They mean that transgender women with male genitalia or any history of violent or sexual offending are not held in the women’s estate, except in truly exceptional cases that are signed off at a ministerial level. This Government inherited those rules, and Ministers have not approved the placement of any transgender women in women’s prisons. This is a classic case of this iteration of the Conservative party spending all its time in opposition criticising the very policy that it introduced.

[Rebecca Smith (South West Devon) (Con)]

We have just heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen South (Douglas Lumsden) that the Supreme Court has clarified the meaning of sex in the Equality Act 2010 and that Scotland has taken the relevant steps. The Minister responded to my hon. Friend with a fairly vague answer about what needs to happen in England. We know that there are women who are not biological females in the women’s estate in England and Wales. When will women get the same protections as in Scotland?

[Jake Richards]

The policy that we are implementing in England and Wales is lawful; it complies with the Prison Rules 1999 and the Equality Act 2010. The guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission has come out. We have 40 days to consider and ratify it, and we will do so.