Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what safeguards are in place to ensure that facial recognition technology used in supermarkets does not contribute to discriminatory outcomes based on race, gender, age, or disability.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
FRT systems should not undermine people’s rights or discriminate unfairly. Under data protection law, organisations need to evaluate the risks to people and their rights deriving from the specific contexts. Supermarkets should be able to demonstrate that they have a lawful basis for the processing of personal data, and that its collection is limited to what is necessary. They must carry out Data Protection Impact Assessments, where there is a high risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms, including risks of bias or discrimination. Supermarkets must comply with the data protection principles of fairness, transparency and accountability when deploying FRT. The Information Commissioner’s Office has clarified that FRT involves the processing of biometric data which is likely to constitute special category data. The processing of such data is subject to additional safeguards under the law. If any significant decision has been made about an individual based solely on automated processing, they have a right to challenge such decision, obtain human intervention and make representations to the controller about them.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the policy of the Passport Office on self-identification, both with and without a gender recognition certificate, in relation to the recording of legal sex.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Current Government policy is that only ‘male’ and ‘female’ sexes are recognised for official purposes under UK law, and this position is reflected in UK passport policy. In the majority of cases, this is determined by the person’s gender as registered at birth and recorded on their birth certificate.
HMPO guidance for customers on the evidence required to change the sex marker in their passport can be found at: Gender recognition policy - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
There are currently no plans to change this process.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hanson of Flint on 6 August (HL9826), whether they will review the gender recognition policy of the Passport Office following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
There are currently no plans to change the gender recognition policy.
UK Government policy on recognition of gender changes is co-ordinated by the Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO). We have provided initial advice to Ministers following the recent Supreme Court judgment. OEO is coordinating the government response to this.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill on 6 August (HL9825), how the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency records the sex of driving licence holders on its databases; and whether those records reflect (1) biological sex, (2) any valid gender recognition certificate, or (3) self-identification.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
A driving licence number reflects the gender of the licence holder as notified to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The seventh character of the number will be a zero or one if the driver record shows the licence holder is male, and five or six if the record shows the licence holder is female.
The DVLA records gender according to the information provided by the applicant and as indicated on the evidence of identity that is provided at the time the licence is applied for.
Those wishing to change their gender will need to apply to the DVLA and provide supporting evidence, which can include a deed poll, statutory declaration or a gender recognition certificate.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the policy of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on self-identification, both with and without a gender recognition certificate, in relation to the recording of legal sex.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
A driving licence number reflects the gender of the licence holder as notified to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The seventh character of the number will be a zero or one if the driver record shows the licence holder is male, and five or six if the record shows the licence holder is female.
The DVLA records gender according to the information provided by the applicant and as indicated on the evidence of identity that is provided at the time the licence is applied for.
Those wishing to change their gender will need to apply to the DVLA and provide supporting evidence, which can include a deed poll, statutory declaration or a gender recognition certificate.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether driving licence numbers are adjusted or encoded to reflect the sex of the licence holder; and if so, how.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
A driving licence number reflects the gender of the licence holder as notified to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The seventh character of the number will be a zero or one if the driver record shows the licence holder is male, and five or six if the record shows the licence holder is female.
The DVLA records gender according to the information provided by the applicant and as indicated on the evidence of identity that is provided at the time the licence is applied for.
Those wishing to change their gender will need to apply to the DVLA and provide supporting evidence, which can include a deed poll, statutory declaration or a gender recognition certificate.
Asked by: Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether HM Prison and Probation Service interprets the word "woman" in the Prison Rules 1999 as excluding biological men in possession of a Gender Recognition Certificate, following the Supreme Court ruling in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.
Answered by Lord Timpson - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Supreme Court has ruled that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, sex means biological sex, while also being clear that protections against discrimination for transgender people remain. We are currently assessing our policies relating to prisoners in light of this ruling and we will be able to say more in due course.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of living LGBT veterans dismissed from the Armed Forces before 1967 who are excluded from the reparations recommended by the LGBT Veterans Independent Review; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the scope of the reparations to include those veterans.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Government recognises the profound impact that historic criminal and Service law had on LGBT veterans and is committed to ensuring fairness and inclusivity in its restorative measures. While the current scope of the LGBT Financial Recognition Scheme (FRS) is based on the recommendations of the LGBT Veterans Independent Review, the Government acknowledges the concerns raised regarding veterans dismissed before 1967.
We therefore extended four restorative measures to those who served before 1967. They can apply to have administrative discharges qualified, their rank restored, Certificates of Service re-issued, and former Officers may apply to have Service details published in The Gazette, as part of the official record.
At present, the Government has not conducted, nor does it have plans to conduct, a formal assessment of the potential merits of extending the FRS to include veterans dismissed or discharged before 1967. This is because the Scheme was set up specifically to respond to the period when Service law was different to civilian law. We do not know how many living veterans were dismissed or discharged from the Armed Forces because of their sexual orientation or gender identity before 1967.
The forthcoming Veterans Strategy will set out this government’s vision for the remarkable men and women that have served in this country’s Armed Forces. Through this new strategy, we will ensure all veterans’– including LGBT – service is celebrated, their potential to make further contributions is realised and, for those that need it, that the right support is available to them.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 23677 on Transgender People, whether his Department has completed its revision of the guidance on gender reassignment.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The current model Gender Reassignment HR policy and guidance was issued in 2019. A review to update it was started in 2023 under the previous administration. The recent Supreme Court ruling in the For Women Scotland case and revision of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Code of Practice has had implications for this review. This is therefore ongoing and the revised policy and guidance will be shared with departments in due course.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent steps she has taken with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to reform the Gender Recognition Certificate process.
Answered by Nia Griffith
We are absolutely clear that trans people should be able to live openly with dignity and respect.
We have set out our immediate priorities in our Plan for Change. Our priorities for trans people are to pass a trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices, strengthen protections from hate crime for trans people and improve their healthcare. This Government is committed to delivering gender recognition reform, and we will deliver on that.