Decision Details

Motion J

Proposer: Councillor Kirkby-Taylor

This Council believes that the draft Code of Practice for Services, public functions and associations, which was put before Parliament on 21 May, while representing significant progress in several areas, is more broadly not fit for purpose in the areas of;

•           providing clarity over who can and cannot use which bathrooms; in
•           its aims of protecting the safety and rights of women and girls; or in
•           ensuring dignity and respect for transgender service users.

Its recommendations are functionally unworkable and unenforceable, and any attempt at implementation will create a financial burden that small businesses and councils alike will be unable to meet, for no reduction in demonstrable risk factors.

Furthermore, this council notes that the draft code’s creation of a hierarchy of protected characteristics represents a dangerous retrograde step, and it appears its purpose is primarily to place additional barriers on participation in public life for members of our transgender community.

This Council resolves to

1.         Write to the three MPs who represent our city encouraging them to add their names to support Early Day Motion 240, which now has over 160 signatures, including the Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee and the majority of that select committee’s members.

2.         Write to Bridget Phillipson as the minister responsible for this guidance; 

(i) insisting on its withdrawal

(ii) asking that the 50,000+ consultation responses be released, either complete or in summary, before the Code of Practice they inform is brought into effect, and that

(iii) representative parties from all affected groups be included in the writing of any updated Code of Practice.

As the motion relates to a non-executive matter, it will be debated and determined at the meeting.