Chamber and committees

Thank you for your comments so far, cabinet secretary. My question is around section 22 of the GRA. An issue of potential concern has been put to us about overseas gender recognition and confirmatory GRCs. Although there is no obligation for somebody with overseas gender recognition to obtain a confirmatory GRC, does the lack of a requirement for any evidence to be provided about that give you any cause for concern in relation to people who have a GRC from somewhere else in the world coming to Scotland? How difficult would it be for employers to obtain information that comes under the protected information provisions of section 22? My question is around concerns for employers gaining access to information that they might need in relation to things such as safety for people.

I suppose the concern is that, because that information is protected, some information that we might want to be disclosed, whether that be in terms of public safety or anything else, would not be disclosed. Can you see an instance in which that might happen?

Thank you. That is helpful.

The process of self-declaration removes the need for the gender recognition panel. What are the main benefits of removing the panel for trans people who are going through the process?

Can we raise the matter with the Minister for Community Safety when we see her in September—if that is when she is coming—or write a letter? There are two issues: the uplift and the threshold limit. It would be helpful to have conversations with the minister about those—although obviously not for the July uplift but in advance of April’s.

That is helpful.

We heard similar evidence in a couple of the sessions that we held. I suppose that the reverse of that is that the removal of any form of gatekeeping or formal safeguards is troubling for some people, especially if it makes it easier for some of the kinds of things that we have heard, for example, in relation to prisoners serving sentences for sexual assault. Are there safeguards or gatekeeping measures that we should be considering?

My final question is in relation to the role of the registrar general, who will oversee the administration of the process. There is a question around how the Government will ensure that the registrar general is resourced sufficiently to support people who are going through the process on any questions and issues that they may have. However, there is also a question around the regulations that the registrar general will have the powers to make. What are the constraints on or parameters within which you see those regulations being made?

Good morning, cabinet secretary. Thank you for joining us and for your opening remarks. I have a few questions around the removal of the diagnosis of gender dysphoria and the gender recognition panel—[Interruption.]

Yesterday in the House of Commons, the Deputy Prime Minister laid out his plans for a so-called British bill of rights. In reality, it is a rights-removal bill that would rip the European Court on Human Rights from domestic law and rewrite the Scotland Act 1998. In their place, we are supposed to rely on Mr Raab’s common sense.

It becomes clearer every day that only by becoming independent can we build a fairer and more equal Scotland. Will the First Minister join me in opposing those dangerous plans, and can she outline what impact they might have on our plans to introduce a Scottish human rights bill during this parliamentary session?

Thank you for your time, Regina—I really appreciate it.

I will be quick. One of the proposed reforms that we are looking at is including the option for a “person of interest”—a person who is associated with the person who is applying for a gender recognition certificate—to have a say in the matter, whether that is a spouse or another close family member. I wondered whether you considered at the time of legislating, in 2015, whether the Irish legislation would include some kind of relationship other than parents for 16 and 17-year-olds. Was there consideration of enabling anybody else, in any other capacity, to have a say in whether somebody should or should not be granted a gender recognition certificate?