Council staff could be at risk of inadvertent discrimination under new Code of Practice guidance, London boroughs claim

The updated statutory guidance, which came into force on Wednesday (5 August), sets out how public bodies should interpret the Equality Act 2010, and includes guidance on public bodies providing single-sex spaces.

The Code was updated to reflect, among other things, the Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, which concerned the interpretation of the 2010 Act in relation to gender reassignment and sex discrimination.

But leaders of Hackney, Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Waltham Forest claim the new rules will be harmful to the rights of trans people and will make their exclusion from public life more likely.

They also claim that the Code introduces a "dangerous lack of clarity" for service providers, leaving council staff at risk of inadvertent discrimination where no third spaces are available to Trans+ (including trans, non-binary and intersex) people.

"We won't put our staff in the impossible position of policing entry to public spaces," it adds.

The councils have demanded the Government clarifies that the Code must not be used to exclude trans people from services, and have called for the introduction of legislation to protect the rights of trans and non-binary people.

It also urges the Government to create an equalities framework that protects trans people’s safety, dignity and humanity.

The letter adds: "It is simply unacceptable that the Code of Practice is harmful to the rights of trans people and will make their exclusion from public life more likely, not less. This will feel like an attack to the countless trans people in our communities who are simply trying to live their lives in safety and wish to be treated with respect.

“The government's own Equalities Impact Assessment acknowledges that there is a real risk Trans+ people could face exclusion, discrimination, or difficulties accessing services if organisations misinterpret the ruling, based on appearance alone.

“Overly broad enforcement can, and will, lead to trans and non-trans people alike being challenged and excluded from services and facilities."

The new Code has also been criticised by the Good Law Project in a letter before claim issued by the legal campaign group, which argues the guidance is based on “wrongheaded reading of the law”.

Adam Carey