Somerville cannot say when new guidance on single-sex spaces will be issued
The Social Justice Secretary vowed to change the guidance after the Scottish Government’s Supreme Court defeat – but could not say when that would be.
Scotland’s Social Justice Secretary has said she is not able to say when fresh guidance on single-sex spaces will be issued following last week’s Supreme Court ruling.
Shirley-Anne Somerville did vow to amend the guidance that will be issued to the country’s public bodies, including the NHS, but said she would wait to meet with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) first.
It comes after the Scottish Government lost a high-profile court case against the campaign group For Women Scotland.
Britain’s top judges ruled on Wednesday the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, the Social Justice Secretary reassured MSPs that new guidance will be issued to public bodies in line with the verdict.
She said the Scottish Government fully accepts the unanimous judgment of the court.
She also told MSPs that the Government had “no plans” to bring back the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which aimed to make it easier for trans people to change their legally recognised gender.
And she reiterated comments from the UK Supreme Court judges, which warned against interpreting its ruling as a win for any one group over another.
