Revised Code of Practice issued by Equality and Human Rights Commission takes effect

The updated statutory guidance sets out how public bodies should interpret the Equality Act 2010, and reflects, 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.

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the new Code would protect service users from discrimination and harassment while reducing the risk of the provider being subject to litigation.

She added: “Last year’s Supreme Court judgment on the definition of sex in the Equality Act increased demand for guidance and the Code has advice on the lawful provision of separate or single-sex services.

"But service providers should remember that the Code has guidance across the protected characteristics and explains how the Equality Act applies in a variety of everyday situations."

However, the guidance has drawn criticism from a number of councils and the EHRC's previous chair, Baroness Falkner, who wrote in The Times that the law would “remain unenforced by the equalities regulator” due to a lack of funding.

Southwark Council's deputy leader called for the Code to be paused in June after warning it would marginalise trans people and create "legal and operational uncertainty" for local authorities.

Commenting on the then-draft Code, Cllr Victor Chamberlain said the guidance would be "unworkable" for three reasons, including that it would place frontline staff in an "impossible position" in which they are expected to make and enforce judgements about who may use which facilities "without any clear, deliverable or safe means of doing so".

Lambeth Council meanwhile backed a motion in July that called on the EHRC to rescind the draft Code, after raising concerns that it endorsed the exclusion of trans, non-binary, intersex and gender non-conforming people from sex-segregated services, toilets and changing facilities in workplaces and public spaces.

Adam Carey