The Gender Recognition Act sets out the legal process by which a person can change their gender. The Government Equalities Office wants to ensure that the legal gender recognition process works well for the people who use it which is why a consultation is currently underway. These are complex and sensitive issues. We know that many trans people find the current requirements overly intrusive and bureaucratic.

We have always made clear that any reform of the Gender Recognition Act will not change the exceptions under the Equality Act that allow provision for single and separate sex spaces.

In this current consultation, which ends next week, we are seeking to understand the issues in more detail and explore ways in which we can improve the system.

This is an open consultation – we are not putting forward any specific proposals for how we want the system to change. Only after we have gathered all the evidence will we set out what we think the new gender recognition process should look like.

Neither the Government Equalities Office nor Ministers were approached for comment on today’s coverage. The consultation ends next week and we will look carefully at all the responses.