Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to
issue further guidance to ensure that schools support
gender-questioning children.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, following calls from schools, teachers and parents to
support schools and colleges in relation to children who are
questioning their gender, on 19 December 2023 we published draft
guidance for consultation. The consultation will close on 12
March. Relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance
is also under review, and we will launch a consultation shortly.
As part of this, we are looking to strengthen the guidance to
schools on how to teach this sensitive topic.
(Non-Afl)
I thank the Minister for her reply and the department for the
clear guidance on working with gender-questioning children.
Parents really were so relieved to hear that they should be fully
involved if their own children decide they want to change gender,
and it is so useful to have clarity that schools should not
automatically socially transition pupils and that teachers and
children should not be compelled to use opposite-sex pronouns.
However, does the Minister find it troubling that, since
publication, a variety of lobby groups and commercial providers
are targeting school SLTs, advising them to ignore and even
resist the guidance? Can the Minister assure us that the DfE will
counter misinformation circulated by the likes of Mermaids, Just
Like Us, Stonewall, The Key and even trade unions that wrongfully
alleges the guidance is in breach of equality law, discriminatory
and transphobic? Will she condemn attempts to scare teaching
staff by suggesting that following the guidance puts them at risk
of action by regulators and litigators?
(Con)
Schools are expected to consider all the guidance from the
department, and this is no exception: we would expect them to
follow the final published guidance. As the noble Baroness says,
the anecdotes we hear are that the guidance is already having an
impact on parents, who feel able to ask schools to account for
their decisions. Once the guidance is published, if individuals
are worried, they should talk to their school about it. I looked
at some of the campaigns being run and some of the templates that
charities have published. Personally, I share the noble
Baroness’s concern that they are quite oppositional in tone and
are pitting parents against schools, which the guidance
explicitly tries to avoid.
(LD)
My Lords, my understanding is that the existing review is still
out for consultation, so the noble Baroness, Lady Fox, might be
jumping the gun a bit by asking whether the Government plan a
further review. All her concerns are, of course, noted. While we
are waiting, I ask the Minister: were children and young people
consulted in the creation of the guidelines that are out for
consultation now?
(Con)
The department typically works through a range of stakeholder
groups, including those that represent the voice of children.
There have been direct conversations with children on these
issues.
(CB)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that schools must strongly
discourage school-age children from taking any steps towards
gender transition until their late 20s, by which time the
decision-making part of their brain—the prefrontal cortex—will be
fully developed?
(Con)
The guidance is very clear that each case should be taken
individually. The safety and well-being of children must always
be our primary concern, which is why that is at the heart of the
guidance. Some of the medical steps to which the noble Baroness
refers are implicit in that safety and well-being focus.
(Lab)
My Lords, Labour welcomes the consultation on the guidance. It is
clear that schools want greater clarity on how to approach what
is, as the Minister said, often a sensitive and difficult issue.
As someone who has two honorary nieces who are trans, I find that
the tone of the debate often ignores the fact that this is about
individuals and how we treat them. It is hard to ignore the fact
that transphobia was an aggravating factor in the horrific murder
of Brianna Ghey. I am confident from her response so far that the
Minister agrees, but can she confirm that the guidance will
ensure that dignity and respect are at its heart?
(Con)
The noble Baroness will have seen from the guidance the
principles that underpin it. It is absolutely clear that schools
and colleges should be respectful and tolerant places where
bullying is never tolerated.
Baroness O'Loan (CB)
My Lords, can the Minister assure the House that the need of
parents to safeguard and guide their children, as provided for in
instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
will be preserved, and that compliance with the guidance should
be made statutory? Finally, can she assure the House that the
operation of and compliance with the guidance will be subject to
Ofsted inspection?
(Con)
The noble Baroness raises a number of points. Schools already
have very clear statutory duties in relation to safeguarding.
Although, going back to the initial Question of the noble
Baroness, Lady Fox, this is non-statutory guidance, all our
non-statutory guidance seeks to support schools in their
statutory obligations, where the safety and well-being of the
child are paramount.
(Con)
My Lords, will the Minister join me in condemning Mermaids’
practice of going into primary school reception classes and
suggesting to four year-olds—including my own granddaughter, in a
rural Suffolk primary school—that if they wish to, they can
change their gender at any stage? This is inappropriate for four
year-olds.
(Con)
I absolutely agree with my noble friend. Again, the guidance is
clear that schools should not agree to support any degree of
social transition for a primary school child unless it is
explicitly required to safeguard and promote their welfare.
(Lab)
My Lords, I commend the approach of my noble friend on the Front
Bench, and I have some sympathy with the Government. In 2000,
when we issued the first ever Sex and RelationshipEducation
Guidance, it caused all kinds of division. I hope the Minister
agrees—and this applies to politics more broadly— that we must
try to come to a consensus and find agreement, rather than
following the terrible current trend of looking at what divides
us.
(Con)
I agree entirely with the noble Lord.
The (Con)
My Lords, following on from the observation of the noble
Baroness, Lady Meacher, does my noble friend agree that for 90%
of children suffering from gender dysphoria, it passes once they
mature, and that maturation comes in their very early 20s?
(Con)
The honest answer to my noble friend is that there is still
insufficient evidence to make such a definitive statement. My
right honourable friend the Minister for Women and Equalities, in
her letter to the Women and Equalities Select Committee, wrote
that
“studies have found a link between gender non-conformity in
childhood and someone later coming out as gay”,
and certainly that
“A young person and their family may notice that they are gender
non-conforming earlier than they are aware of their developing
sexual orientation. If gender non-conformity is misinterpreted as
evidence of being transgender … the child may not have had a
chance to identify, come to terms with or explore a same-sex
orientation”.
(Lab)
My Lords, if, as the Minister has accepted and as has been
expounded by the noble Baroness, Lady Fox, a forceful lobbying
campaign by groups is anticipated, why have the Government
decided to make this guidance non-statutory? Surely, if the
Government anticipate widespread resistance to it, at least from
these lobbying groups, the answer would be to make the guidance
statutory.
(Con)
I understand the noble Lord’s point, but our expectation is that
schools, as I said in my response to the noble Baroness, will
comply with the guidance. The guidance is very clear, so parents
and teachers can take confidence. Obviously, the point of the
consultation is to give all parties a voice, but we will make
sure that our statutory safeguarding guidance is completely
aligned with this non-statutory guidance.
