Welsh Assembly and the lost equality impact assessment

Can you ask a sympathetic assembly member to look into it?

It might be worth looking at the Violence against women, domestic abuse & sexual violence (wales) Act 2015. A possible different way into the issue.

Section 2 of that Act is interesting. It obliges a person exercising functions under the Act to have regard to the need to remove or minimise any factors that increase the risk of violence to women and girls. This would catch the Welsh ministers in drawing up their strategy under section 3. Also local authorities drawing up strategies under section 5.

It might be worth asking in a foi how the increased risk of offences against women in shared sex changing rooms - clearly a factor to which section 2 requires regard to be had - has been taken into account in formulating and implementing the national and local strategies as required by the Act. And asking for evidence of how it was taken into account.

Perhaps worth raising with one of the Welsh politicians mentioned above? I mean, there is so much evidence re men in women’s prisons, shared changing rooms, that this has to be a factor to be taken into account under section 2.And if it hadn’t been, isn’t that a breach of statutory duty?

Also possibly the second section 2 requirement - exacerbating the impact of abuse - in terms of allowing men into domestic abuse crisis centres, rape crisis centres, making it more difficult (because distressing) for women to use shared sex facilities, eg changing rooms for public pools, where they are now expected to get changed in front of men.

I've met Jane Hutt a couple of times and I would be very surprised if she wasn't GC.

I worked with her in the early noughties when she was Health Minister. She certainly didn’t get submissions involving “cervix owners” back then.

@Oldstyle I've just followed Helen on Twitter. Did you ask her on Twitter? Could you/someone who's good with words draft a tweet I could copy (as I'm not great at it and don't want to come across as thick )

Could many of us tweet it? And not just @helen???

Women's rights to single-sex spaces, services and opportunities are simply ignored. Not even mentioned. It's as if we don't exist.
I agree it's scary. I'm bloody terrified.

Me too. Also utterly appalled at their “It’s done now, so even if women are at risk, we’re not going to change anything, whether or not it’s legal to continue.”

It’s the same pattern everywhere. Bring in new rules by stealth, then pretend women are ‘rolling back trans rights’ when women point out that women’s rights have been steamrollered without blinking.

Plus the suggestion that they are waiting for the GRA consultation is a complete red-herring.

They seem quite fond of this as an excuse not to respond to any of the points I have made in my many emails to them. One question I have asked (several times), but failed to obtain an answer to is this:
“Do you think that girls in school should have access to single-sex toilets, changing rooms and showers? Single sex in this context means free of male-bodied people.” (I put in the explanation of what I meant by single sex, just in case they think that a boy magically changes sex when he says he's a girl.)

This is the last response to this question that I received from them:
"In line with previous correspondence on these issues, we are continuing to await the outcome of the UK Government’s consultation on the Gender Recognition Act. We have recently been advised that analysis of the very large number of responses received to this consultation is underway and that the outcome will be published subsequently. We are mindful of the concerns expressed by yourself and others on these issues and will be considering what further action is needed in Wales. No decisions have yet been taken about this, but I can assure you that impact assessments will be undertaken in respect of any substantive new policy developments in this area. This is also likely to involve consultation on the issues which you have highlighted in your latest and previous emails and related topics. It would not be appropriate to pre-empt such consultation and I am therefore unable to provide the “yes or no” answers you have requested at this stage."

My response:
"I don't see the relevance of the reform of the Gender Recognition Act to this question. Unless, of course, you are suggesting that should the UK government decide to go ahead with self-declaration of legal sex, and extends this right to children, girls could automatically lose their right to single sex spaces."

I possibly should have phrased that as a question, rather than a statement, but it probably wouldn't have made any difference since they haven't answered many of the other questions I've asked.

I am posting below part of the text of the email I sent to Mark Drakeford and Jane Hutt. Although they say that the action plan is out of date, they have not responded to the specific point that the current guidance should be withdrawn due to the lack of an equality impact assessment.
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"Please would you look further into the circumstances surrounding the loss of this important document, since the lack of an Equality Impact Assessment means that children and vulnerable women could already be at risk as a result of organisations following the guidance given in the Transgender Action Plan and associated Welsh Government funded documents such as the TransForm Cymru Toolkit and Welsh Women’s Aid's “Transgender Policy & Procedural Guidance”. Please will you also confirm that you will withdraw the Transgender Action Plan, the TransForm Cymru toolkit and the Welsh Women's Aid transgender guidance until they have been properly assessed for their impact on other protected groups, and rewritten to reflect this."

The total lack of evidence in this regard strongly suggests that no EIA was completed.

What's equally infuriating is the suggestion that the Action Plan is now out of date so we shouldn't worry our pretty heads about it anyway. We know that actions have already been taken on the basis of the plan - training & guidance re trans inclusion at refuges; guidance to sports' bodies like the WRU; training for teachers; Stonewall/GI materials to use in schools etc. At the very least there should be a review of the impact of these.

The Action Plan basically scraps all single-sex rights in Wales: in sports and changing rooms; in rape crisis centres and women's shelters; in schools & workplaces. It's a complete take-over.

Plus the suggestion that they are waiting for the GRA consultation is a complete red-herring.

Does this mean they didn’t actually do the EIA?

I've just received a response to my second FOI request to Welsh Government.
www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/documents_relating_to_the_equali

Their response consists of two documents:

1. The Transgender Action Plan (which I already have, obviously).
2. One document circulated internally to various ministers and civil servants. This document says that an Equality Impact Assessment has been drafted and will be updated and published with the Action Plan.

They seem to be claiming that this is all the documentation they have concerning the impact assessment.

Nice one thatdamnwoman. Worth a try.
Helen Mary Jones said that she'd do the same (on Twitter) but only tumbleweed since then.

Updating. I asked friends who live in the constituency of Tonia Antoniazzi, who is on the Women and Equalities Committee, to raise this issue with her in her WEC capacity. I understand that she is going to follow it up with the Welsh Assembly. No idea if it'll help get a response out of them but who knows.

At best it's a careless disregard for women's rights and women's lives. But given everything else that's happening, not just here in the UK but internationally, it's hard not to see it as a deliberate attempt to replace sex-based rights with gender-based rights. Which in practice means replacing women's rights with men's rights.
The trans Action Plan is essentially a framework for that without requiring any change to the GRA. In every sphere - sport, education, the workplace, domestic violence refuges & rape crisis centres - trans rights are prioritised. Women's rights to single-sex spaces, services and opportunities are simply ignored. Not even mentioned. It's as if we don't exist.
I agree it's scary. I'm bloody terrified.

I’m finding this all really scary, in a Margaret Atwood kind of way.
Is it stupidity? Or something darker than that?

I have done a few EIA in my time. Even a pretty half baked low level EIA (e.g. for a policy that affected only a couple of hundred people) would need to have some consultation process (e.g. with local branch of trade union). To consult on it, you would share a current draft for comment, probably by e-mail. It is just not plausible that every person with whom it was shared during drafting and consultation deleted or destroyed it. Unless perhaps the draft was developed solely on a shared platform, which is possible if only civil servants were involved (although consultation should have been wider). But again, it is not easy to delete accidentally from that type of shared platform (if it was it could be disastrous for documents in development) and it would probably record who deleted it and when.

It is simply not plausible that one person wrote the EIA and did not consult or share with anyone. Even the crappiest EIA has to be shared. Otherwise what's the point of it?!

I imagine the information commissioner would be very interested.

If I was answering the correspondence I'd be perspiring a little at this point.

They don't seem to understand that it's about considering all protected groups who might be affected by the policy, not just transgender people. If they don't then it's dereliction of duty (or even malpractice) since it's made abundantly clear in all the documentation. That's why councils have legal departments surely? I think it's just easier to ignore the requirements for all PCs with the expectation that most PC groups have neither the money nor influence to do anything about it. Whereas the mighty trans lobbyists have a plentiful supply of both. Though I accept I might be cynical about this whole sorry mess.
But thanks for keeping at it FOIrequester. Hope the media get hold of it soon - there does seem to be a shift in the direction of more critical reporting in this arena. As opposed to no reporting.

It makes one wonder how shallow the PSED process is

I think that a lot of organisations don't understand what it's for. If you read the Denbighshire schools document, it's clear that they think that they only have to consider transgender people in order to comply with the PSED when formulating a transgender policy. They don't seem to understand that it's about considering all protected groups who might be affected by the policy, not just transgender people.

Thanks for that advice AllNaturalWoman. I did wonder if that might be the case. I only got the acknowledgement today, so I will leave it a few weeks and if I don't hear from them I'll get in touch.

FOIrequestor I suggest you keep reminding the ICO regularly you're waiting on a response and ask when it will be assigned to a caseworker and when they anticipate getting to your request. Otherwise it will languish in their 'to get to some day maybe' list with everything else.

They are unresourced and have too much to do to ever get it all done

FOIrequester
It's clear that public authorities have not realised that there is a potential conflict when you implement this stuff for that one group with a protected characteristic. It makes one wonder how shallow the PSED process is and what else they are neglecting when they rubber stamp these things. They have no excuse to not put it right though.

The ICO have replied and said that my complaint "has been accepted as eligible for further consideration". They mention the large number of complaints they have to deal with and that there might be a delay before they do anything, so I'm expecting to have to wait a while for their next communication.

FOIrequester thank you for being persistent.

Should I just leave this here?

www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/misconduct-public-office

Well done

Fascinating, isn't it?

It's almost like if it was done in a transparent, ordinary, open and law abiding way it wouldn't be possible.

this is amazing

it's chip by chip that this will be turned around

you are doing the goddesses work FOIrequester