Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the NHS recruitment requirement for new psychologists working with children with gender dysphoria to “practice in a gender affirming manner in line with WPATH SOC 8”, that is, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's standards of care, is in line with its endorsement of the Cass Review.

All of the National Health Service’s new Children and Young People’s gender services are being established closely in line with recommendations from the Cass Review, which the Government and NHS England are committed to implementing in full.

The recruitment campaign referred to relates to a temporary service which was set up solely to provide psychosocial support for the relatively small number of children and young people already referred to endocrine clinics by the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service clinic, prior to the closure of that service in March 2024. The trust has acknowledged that old terminology was used in the job advertisement, including the references to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's standards of care, and is amending it.