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Latest on the Transgender Action Plan and the Statement of Need... prior to Sparkle 2011

Dear All,

Last March, I attended a workshop in Central London held by a number of transgender groups who were working on a Statement of Need. I understand  that this document had been collated from discussions held with a number of transgender groups and identifies a range of actions that those who responded wanted to see taken forward. Also I gather that the part of the intention of this document is to help inform the development of the transgender equality action plan that we, in GEO, are developing.

I made a commitment at that session to review the Statement of Need to help identify which actions would ordinarily fall to Government to undertake. I’ve gone through this document and marked, in red, which actions would normally be for central Government to take forward.  Where we have identified an action as falling within Government’s remit, we have made a commitment to take this action away and consider this further with other Government departments, as part of planning for the transgender action plan. We cannot, at this stage, make any commitment that we will be able to deliver any specific action.

It’s also worth noting that this preliminary assessment is based on our understanding of the commitments you have included in the Statement of Need and is intended to help the community in thinking about next steps.  There were some actions which we were not as clear on and where you may not agree with our classification. If you disagree with our assessment, please do not hesitate to send us further information and we would be happy to look at the actions in question again. 

Our next step is to take away the actions we have identified as requiring Government consideration, which we will review alongside the outcomes from our online surveys and the series of discussions we have already held. We will continue to have discussions with groups and plan to publish a final transgender equality action plan at the end of this year.

It may be useful, at this stage, to outline Government’s wider programme of work.  The Government has made a commitment to reduce regulations and burdens on businesses and to devolve powers to schools and local authorities.  What this will mean for health for example, is that the current direction of travel is not to initiate many central information campaigns around public health, but for needs to be addressed locally. It takes a similar approach to legislation and therefore it is unlikely that there will be much new or amended legislation. With respect to the Gender Recognition Act, you may be aware that the Government announced on 17 February 2011 that ministers have identified a desire to move towards equal civil partnerships and marriage and will be consulting further on how legislation could be developed, working with all those who have an interest in the area. This will provide transsexual people with an opportunity to contribute to the Government’s consideration of the subject of equal marriage and partnerships.  At this time, Government does not intend to consider the provisions of the Gender Recognition Act separately

I hope you finding this information helpful.  I look forward to seeing many of you at Sparkle on Sunday.

With best wishes

Emma Reed

Government Equalities Office

 

Statement of Need GEO Comment Document Version (Adobe Format)

 

 

 

 

Dear all,


On 14 March 2011 the Government launched Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality: Moving Forward, which sets out the actions Government is taking to tackle lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inequality.  We recognise transgender issues are often distinct and sometimes need to be addressed separately. This is why we will also be publishing the first ever cross Government transgender equality action plan later in the year.


To help us deliver this plan, we need to know how you think we should be progressing the agenda.  We therefore will be sending you regular trans e-bulletins to give you an opportunity to do just this.


Our first e-bulletin, issued on 11 April, included an online survey asking for your views and ideas. This received a large number of responses which will help to inform the development of the first ever cross Government transgender equality action plan. The action plan will be launched later this year.


The second Government Equalities Office transgender e-bulletin has now been released. One of the findings of the first survey was that health was the top priority for respondents. To gather more insight into this important area, this e-bulletin contains a more focussed survey just on health. We would be grateful if you could complete this survey by 17 July 2011.


The e-bulletin can be found here: http://www.equalities.gov.uk/pdf/2nd%20transgender%20e-bulletin.pdf

To help us make sure we are reaching the widest range of people, we would be grateful if you could please forward this message and bulletin to your friends and colleagues; post it on your blogs and discussion forums; and raise it in your community groups. Your support will make all the difference

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Please do not hesitate to contact us via transgender@geo.gsi.gov.uk if you have any queries.

Regards,
Kevin Mantle