Chamber and committees

Good morning—I had to look at the clock to check that it was still morning; it is indeed. Thank you very much for setting out what is a complex situation. I have been trying to get to grips with the information that you provided in advance. Forgive me if some of what I ask about is outwith your remit, or if I have misunderstood.

My first question is a simple one; it is about the 38,000 people in Scotland who are on DLA and have yet to transfer to PIP. Is it your understanding that leaving them to transfer to PIP, as opposed to ADP, would have taken longer than the process that is set out in the regulations?

I just want to follow up one of Bruce Adamson’s responses, if that is okay.

Bruce, you talked about the need to balance the rights to protection and to participation and autonomy. Can you tell us a bit more about how we ensure that the bill achieves that? Could amendments be made to the process for statutory declarations to balance participation and protection appropriately? Will you talk a bit about the presumption under the convention that children have capacity with regard to the courts when they reach the age of 16? That is the kind of early assumption that has been made. Should that approach be applied here? How could we address the bill’s differences from other legislation?

Yes.

What is your understanding of what that difference is?

Could I ask a further follow-up question?

It is about section 195 of the Equality Act 2010, which both of you have mentioned. Do you think that the bill will have an impact on that section?

Bruce Adamson, can you also pick up on that?

I do. My questions are on the international experience, some of which Bruce Adamson has already shared. Can you set out briefly your understanding of how self-declaration has worked in other countries and what the impact has been—positive or negative—on the rights of young people? You said that human rights has a mechanism to balance rights where there is an interplay between two groups of rights. Can you also talk briefly about the international experience of that and how the issue has been resolved elsewhere?

What factors are considered when a trans person is looking to participate in a particular sport?

Good morning. Thank you for your submissions and the answers that you have given so far.

I am keen to explore what happens now in relation to gender recognition certificates and trans people’s access to sport. Could you tell us about the use that is made of a gender recognition certificate in any determination as to whether someone is able to participate in a given sport? What happens now? If the changes were to go through, what would happen in the future?