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Phillipson Faces New Pressure Over Delayed Equality Act Guidance

The hold-up leaves service providers unsure how to run single-sex spaces under last year’s Supreme Court ruling.

Overview

  • For Women Scotland says the Equalities Minister refused a meeting ahead of the ruling’s first anniversary, and the group now plans to deliver a letter to Downing Street with allied organisations.
  • The Equality and Human Rights Commission produced an updated code to replace 2011 guidance and to steer single-sex services after the Court said the Equality Act’s definition of woman is based on biological sex, yet it remains unpublished.
  • Former EHRC chair Baroness Kishwer Falkner accuses Bridget Phillipson of putting career concerns over releasing the code and says the delay has “betrayed” women.
  • Ministers reject claims of stalling and say they are reviewing a roughly 300‑page, legally complex draft to avoid exposing service providers to fresh legal risk.
  • A core dispute persists over when the draft reached ministers, with Falkner saying April 8 and government figures saying early September, which underpins the row over accountability for the delay.