Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps the Home Office is taking to close safeguarding loopholes where a name is changed in relation to a change of gender.

The Government is clear that we want people who are transgender to be able to live their lives as they wish. We believe that the process of legally changing one’s gender is a serious and legally meaningful undertaking which requires appropriate checks and a level of formality.

Home Office policy is to allow a customer to change their gender without requiring a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), in line with the Equality Act 2010, which does not allow discrimination between people who have changed their gender through medical intervention, for example via surgery, and those who have not.

Statements from medical consultants are accepted if they are registered on a medical website, can provide proof of their medical qualification and HM Passport examiners can verify; if not HM Passport Office examiners request another letter from another medical consultant if the original person cannot meet the necessary criteria.

The Government has begun an internal review into name change more generally. The review is looking at the formal and informal methods by which someone can change their name provide assurance that, where necessary, appropriate safeguards exist.