Overview
- Ministers said Tuesday they will put the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s revised services code to Parliament in May after the devolved administrations’ election period, following the EHRC’s resubmission on April 13.
- Former EHRC chair Baroness Falkner said Thursday that withholding the guidance does a disservice to trans people and accused ministers of acting in bad faith before local elections.
- The government says it supports protecting single‑sex spaces based on biological sex and argues pre‑election rules limit announcements, while promising to lay the code as soon as practicable in May.
- Bridget Phillipson has clarified the statutory code covers services and associations rather than workplace rules, addressing confusion created by recent court judgments and lobbying.
- The Times reported ministers sought a softer tone in the draft, a claim her team disputes, as investigations highlight uneven compliance across NHS trusts, councils and police and a legal opinion warns women‑only charities risk breaching their objects if they extend benefits to males; once laid, the code would take effect after a 40‑day scrutiny period unless either House moves to reject it.