The Charity Commission has told the government that greater clarity is needed on how charities and other organisations navigate the effects of last year’s Supreme Court ruling that “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to “biological sex”.
In an open letter published this week, commission chief executive David Holdsworth said it was “vital” that the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) code of practice for organisations navigating the ruling is published “as soon as reasonably practicable”.
He said he had written to ministers “setting out some of the serious impacts on the sector and the need for urgent improved clarity and guidance”.
Holdsworth’s letter was written in response to a call from governance expert Penny Wilson for the charity watchdog to issue immediate guidance following recent decisions by Girlguiding and the Women’s Institute to exclude trans women and girls from their memberships.
In the meantime, he said the commission’s approach since the ruling “has been to accept that it can be a reasonable decision for trustees to await the final statutory guidance, or alternatively to seek legal advice relevant to their charity’s position and make changes as they consider necessary”.
‘Scaremongering’ avoided
Writing on LinkedIn in reaction to Holdsworth’s letter, Wilson said that she had been “alarmed by charities being forced by the threat of legal action to take decisions they said they didn't want to take” and that the regulator’s response “gives helpful” clarity on its position.
Wilson added that the clarification of the commission’s regulatory approach would mitigate any “scaremongering” that the commission would be investigating charities which had not already excluded trans women and girls from their services.
Last year, the Women’s Institute and Girlguiding both changed their membership policies to exclude trans women and girls amid concerns from the former that it would risk “costly legal challenge and potential regulatory action from the Charity Commission.”
However, at the time, the commission responded by confirming that it was not responsible for enforcing equality legislation.
The commission said it planned to update its guidance for charities after the EHRC had published its own code of practice.
Currently, the EHRC has only produced a draft updated code of practice, but this has not yet been approved by the government.
