Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the impact of potential changes to the definition of sex in the Equality Act 2010 on people with differences in sex development; and whether it is her Department's policy that the term biological sex refers to (a) chromosomal sex, (b) reproductive sex or (c) sex assigned at birth.

We are considering the findings of the call for evidence with a view to publishing the report in due course.

More broadly, as the Minister for Women and Equalities set out in her letter to Baroness Falkner, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), she is concerned that the Equality Act may not be sufficiently clear in the balance it strikes between the interests of people with different protected characteristics. She regularly seeks advice from the independent equality regulator as part of her role. It is right that the Government continues to keep legislation under review, ensuring that it is effective. She has received advice from the EHRC on the Equality Act and will consider it in the usual way. No decisions on any next steps have been made.