Phillipson faces pressure as Labour postpones schools trans guidance until after elections
The publication of long-awaited official guidance on transgender access to single-sex spaces has been postponed by the government, with ministers citing restrictions imposed by upcoming elections in Scotland and Wales.
Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Bridget Phillipson confirmed the delay, stating that the updated code of practice, which applies across Great Britain, could not be released during the pre-election “purdah” period. The government has pledged to present it to Parliament “as soon as practicable” after the votes on 7 May.
A delay layered with legal and political complexity
The postponement comes at a sensitive moment, just days before the first anniversary of a definitive Supreme Court ruling. On 16 April 2025, the court unanimously clarified that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex, meaning trans women do not qualify as women under the Act for the purposes of single-sex spaces and sex discrimination.
Campaigners from groups like For Women Scotland, which brought the landmark case, argue this ruling provided clarity nearly a year ago. They have expressed mounting frustration that the practical guidance for organisations, promised to flow from that judgment, remains unpublished. The Equality and Human Rights Commission submitted its revised code of practice to the government seven months ago, in September 2025.
This revised document itself followed significant controversy. An earlier interim version from the EHRC, suggesting trans people could be barred from single-sex spaces, was withdrawn after legal challenge from groups including the Good Law Project. The updated code aims to balance the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex with the existing rights of transgender people under the Equality Act’s separate characteristic of “gender reassignment”.
While Ms Phillipson has insisted the government is taking “urgent action” and that the law is already clear, critics contend that the delay leaves employers and service providers in a difficult position. They argue the legal clarity of a Supreme Court judgment does not automatically translate into workable day-to-day policies for businesses, sports clubs, and other institutions.
Purdah, politics, and accusations of hesitation
The official reason for the delay rests on purdah conventions, which limit government announcements during election periods to avoid influencing voters. However, this explanation has been met with scepticism from some quarters.
Detractors, including the former EHRC chair Baroness Kishwer Falkner, have accused Ms Phillipson of using the elections as a pretext. They suggest the real motivation is to avoid a damaging internal party row ahead of a potential bid for the Labour leadership, with over thirty Labour MPs having reportedly raised concerns that the draft guidance could discriminate against transgender people.
Ms Phillipson has dismissed these accusations as “politically motivated smears,” emphasising the need to “get this right.” The political sensitivities are pronounced, exposing tensions within Labour between those emphasising biological sex and those focused on trans inclusion, a divide mirrored in Scottish Labour’s manifesto support for biological sex.
The campaign group For Women Scotland is scheduled to meet with the Equalities Minister imminently to press for more detail and a swift publication timeline. The group’s director has described feeling “cautiously optimistic” after Ms Phillipson’s update, but the extended timeline continues to be a source of significant frustration for those seeking definitive operational guidance.
Once released, the EHRC’s updated code of practice will still require parliamentary scrutiny before it can come into force, indicating further process lies ahead before any final guidance is settled.
