Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 180207 on Gender and Sexuality and with reference to the letter she received from the Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, dated 3 April 2023, whether she plans to hold discussions with organisations that have expertise in the rights of trans people on the implications of that advice for (a) equal pay and (b)(i) direct and (ii) indirect sex discrimination.

The Minister for Women and Equalities sought advice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to establish whether the law in its existing format is sufficiently clear in the balance it strikes between the interests of people with different protected characteristics. Having received their response she is now carefully considering it before any decision on how to respond is made.

The EHRC itself has highlighted that further policy and legal analysis is required to understand the impact of its advice on various groups and areas, including sex discrimination and equal pay.