Chamber and committees

On that point, Sandy, how do restaurants and bars that have single-sex toilets police them and keep bad-faith actors from accessing them?

That is what I am asking you. If the bill was passed, would it not make things harder for providers with regard to the justification that people would have to give? I am not for or against this—I am just asking how that would work.

Your answer was fine. Is anybody able to answer the medical side of the question?

I want to go back to talk about how the bill would affect other countries. I am interested in hearing a bit more on the effect that reform of the GRA could have on participation in cross-border sporting competitions. Do you expect that moving to a system of self-declaration would conflict with the guidance set out in other countries, either in the UK or abroad? How would that work? We have talked a lot about Scotland but how do you see a reformed GRA working within the UK and other countries?

Yes.

Thank you for your opening statements. You have touched on this, but will you go into a little more depth on how you see the self-ID policy working across sports, from the grass roots to the competitive elite levels? What evidence base is there on the impact of testosterone on performance?

The consideration of cost does not explicitly factor in the development of additional careful consideration of applications from children, sensitive investigation, or even face-to-face applications. You also stated in your response that it is unclear whether National Records of Scotland currently has the expertise to undertake such a role, and that it is likely to require additional specialised staffing. Has the provision of support been hastily thought about, with no real consideration of the potential costs and of the services that will be provided?

Good morning to the panel and thank you for your opening statements. Going back to the mechanisms and the process, the commissioner’s response to the consultation highlighted that there is no mechanism in the proposed reform for setting out how an individual child’s understanding of the process and its consequences would be assessed. Does that concern still stand?

Malcolm, do you want to add anything?

My next question is for Bruce Adamson and Ellie Gomersall.

Last week, we heard from the Equality and Human Rights Commission that individuals who acquire a GRC can access women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces such as toilets, changing rooms, refuges and hospital wards, and that the exclusion of individuals with a GRC would be direct discrimination, subject to justification.

There are concerns from those opposed to the bill that the self-declaration aspect could open the bill up to abuse by bad-faith actors. Do you think that certain groups of individuals, such as people who are on the sex offenders register, for example, should be ineligible to apply for a GRC on the basis of self-declaration? If not, are there any other safeguards that you think would be best placed to ensure that the bill has no unintended consequences for children’s rights?

I want to follow that up. You mentioned that the process is pretty rigorous right now but, under the bill, the process will be much easier. If there are no safeguards in place, will that open up the process to such predators?