The Charity Commission has published an interim update, urging charities to prepare now to comply with changes to the equality watchdog’s guidance.
Parliamentary scrutiny of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) updated code, based on last year’s Supreme Court ruling which concluded that “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to “biological sex”, concluded earlier this month.
This updated code will come into force on 5 August, with the commission “working at pace” to produce its own sector-specific guidance for charities in the autumn.
However, after being urged to hasten its guidance, the commission has now clarified that charities should already be taking steps to comply with the updated EHRC code.
It said such steps might, depending on the nature of a charity’s work, include seeking legal advice.
The commission said its own guidance will provide further support to charities in understanding how the Equality Act, and the code, affect them.
It will set out how charities might take positive action under the Equality Act’s exceptions for voluntary organisations.
“But charities need to be aware that our guidance will not alter the legal principle set out by the April 2025 Supreme Court judgment, For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers, that ‘sex’ for the purpose of the Equality Act means ‘biological sex’,” the commission said.
“Charities do not need to wait for the commission’s guidance to comply with the act and the code.
“It is the responsibility of trustees to ensure their charity is compliant with the code, once it is legally enforceable, and unreasonable delays in taking steps towards compliance may be considered a breach of those responsibilities.”
