Gender recognition certificate cost cut to £5

[Justhadathought]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56972195

"The fee to apply for a gender recognition certificate has been cut to £5, the government has announced.Ministers pledged in September to slash the cost of legally changing gender from £140 after deciding against wider reforms.

Women and Equalities Minister Liz Truss said the reduction removed a "barrier" for transgender people. While cost has been cited as an obstacle to applying, some LGBT groups say more work is needed.
The announcement comes nearly a month after the BBC revealed that the figure would be reduced.

A consultation was set up in 2018 to explore potential reforms to the way transgender people can apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC) in England and Wales. This allows someone's acquired gender to be recorded on their birth and marriage certificates"

The existing process - which requires two medical reports - had been criticised as costly and bureaucratic.The government estimates there are between 200,000 and 500,000 transgender people in the UK, although the actual figure is not known.

A total of 5,871 full GRCs have been granted since 2005, according to the latest official figures.In September 2020, following a highly charged debate about the potential impact of changing the law, the government announced it would not fundamentally reform the process.At the time, Ms Truss said there were "proper checks and balances in the system" - but pledged to make applying "kinder and more straightforward", including reducing the fee.In a statement after the reduction came into force, Ms Truss said: "As we build back better, we want transgender people to be free to live and to prosper in modern Britain."

"In the National LGBT Survey, 34% of transgender people told us that the cost of applying for a certificate was holding them back from doing so," Ms Truss said.Today we have removed that barrier, and I am proud that we have made the process of getting a certificate fairer, simpler and much more affordable."

The government has also said it is working "at speed" to move the application process online"

Thinking I might contact my MP to suggest the blue badge scheme costs are reduced. It’s £10, and not a one-off fee. She cannot work because of her disability, so this payment is made from her disability benefit. As she has a mobility car on the motability scheme, the mobility component of her PIP goes to the car, so the blue badge payment comes out of her care component.

Additionally, she pays a contribution towards her care, from the care component of her PIP. She also accrues costs associated with her disability that are not ‘written off’ in her financial assessment. These are ongoing costs, so it does add up.

I’m referring to my sister, forgot to state.

I think it's a fair compromise for the time being.

There is still a requirement of two medical reports. Altering your birth certificate to say an untruth is not just a case of filling out an online form, as trans activists demand.

thepoordrop how awful. Disabled people really are underrepresented in policy making decisions.

Yikes! Thepuredrop I meant obviously

So, I don't have an issue with reducing the cost of GRCs. I do however have an issue with the fact that as far as I'm aware no other major admistrative and/or ID document is anywhere near the cost of £5. As PP said, Blue Badge applications, but also what about passport/driving licence applications, immigration-related applications etc. I'm not sure why those would all need to be so much more expensive than a GRC as presumably there are similar identity checks involved in the creation of a GRC? I get that reducing those costs would need to be campaigned for separately as people have campaigned for the reduction in the cost of a GRC, but somehow I cannot imagine government being anywhere near as receptive in reducing the costs of other things particularly anything related to immigration or disability for example.

Good.
Every false complaint should be exposed.
"It's too expensive, I'm so oppressed by it" carries no weight now.

Of course, it's ridiculous that the cost of passports and blue badges and NHS prescriptions and pretty much every other administrative documentation should be more expensive than the procedure to have your biological sex falsified on a birth certificate. It's obscene in fact.

But as a tactical move, it's brilliant. Ultimately, every contrived complaint is deflated until people see the pack of cards tumble.
And the only complaint left standing is "women said no to me"

@GNCQ

thepoordrop how awful. Disabled people really are underrepresented in policy making decisions.

Well my sister is of the opinion that she should contribute towards these things, but she is of limited means and they are ongoing costs, so I think they can be viewed as barriers.

Oh good!

I think on its own it's a good thing, however as PP said it's still a lot less than other people have to pay for things.

But as a tactical move, it's brilliant. Ultimately, every contrived complaint is deflated until people see the pack of cards tumble.
And the only complaint left standing is "women said no to me"

Great point.

What bothers me is that they are called Gender Change Certificates. Gender is not a legal concept - how can it be? They should be renamed Sex Change Certificates because they are legally changing their sex and not their gender. (Whether you think that should be allowed etc, is different - I'm just saying we should call a spade a spade.)

GRC is cheaper than passports etc because people have campaigned for it. If you want cheaper blue badges or other costs then definitely raise it with your mp but it’s not a race to the bottom here.

@LewishamMum

What bothers me is that they are called Gender Change Certificates. Gender is not a legal concept - how can it be? They should be renamed Sex Change Certificates because they are legally changing their sex and not their gender. (Whether you think that should be allowed etc, is different - I'm just saying we should call a spade a spade.)

It’s gender recognition certificate isn’t it? Not change? Which I think makes sense because it’s the legal recognition of your gender not a change of biological sex.

I paid £140 for mine. Think I can apply for a £135 refund?

Facetiousness aside, the GRA should be abolished now. It (and its little piece of paper) served its legislative purpose at the time I got mine but it's now it's unnecessary due to various bits of equality legislation passed after the fact. We all know it's a work of legal fiction and can potentially obfuscate safeguarding checks.

Tbh I'd happily throw mine in the bin as it's literally not worth the paper its written on now. It's not like it affects trans people on a day to day basis anymore. Sadly you can't de-GRC yourself easily though even if you wanted to.

As previous posters have said, a reduction to the blue badge is more important - or the cost of a passport, which seems to be the default ID for every organisation these days and an unnecessary financial burden on those with low incomes.

@Yawnthisway
My apologies you are correct that it is Gender Recognition Certificate, but my basic point is that what they are getting is legal recognition they are their "new" sex. It's not gender, which is woolly and vague and nothing to do with the law at all. Ultimately it is in fact a Sex Recognition Certificate ie the right to be legally recognised as their "new" sex, and so it should be called that. Once you have one you are allowed to fill in official forms etc and put your sex as your new one as per the Certificate, so I just think that's what the name should be.

Don't agree with the passport analogy. Why should people who can't afford to go on holidays abroad subsidise the passport costs of those that can? This should be charged on a costs basis to those that want them.
Blue Badges totally different though.

I'm with thepuredrop - the argument that the cost was prohibitive was ridiculous, so this is a positive development in my opinion.

Hamster would you be in favour of people being able to change their gender ( / sex) marker on documentation without a certificate? The certificates do feel quite outdated now - they don't really do anything.

It's £11 just to get a copy of your own birth certificate. I suspect this isn't the end of the financial barrier argument due to the cost of two medical reports as this is chargeable work by docs not free.

@HamsterV2

I paid £140 for mine. Think I can apply for a £135 refund?

Facetiousness aside, the GRA should be abolished now. It (and its little piece of paper) served its legislative purpose at the time I got mine but it's now it's unnecessary due to various bits of equality legislation passed after the fact. We all know it's a work of legal fiction and can potentially obfuscate safeguarding checks.

Tbh I'd happily throw mine in the bin as it's literally not worth the paper its written on now. It's not like it affects trans people on a day to day basis anymore. Sadly you can't de-GRC yourself easily though even if you wanted to.

As previous posters have said, a reduction to the blue badge is more important - or the cost of a passport, which seems to be the default ID for every organisation these days and an unnecessary financial burden on those with low incomes.

If you don't mind me asking, what other costs did you incur? For instance, the 2 medical reports. I'm told they can be several hundred pounds each, and can require travel.

I'm sure others have seen the comments in Twitter already, I'm just leaving this here, partly as a place marker to be back to read more later.

twitter.com/kathrynbristow/status/1389502158350004224?s=21

Why on earth was my comment deleted?

Is it because the truth hurts?

I’m glad it’s been reduced. They can’t whine about cost then and lying on their ID doesn’t convince anyone in reality does it?