Is now the time to challenge councils on why they are still breaking the law?

[Shedmistress]

People often talk about the Blob. For this they mean that slow moving 'computer says no' aspect of the people that run the institutions, councils, agencies, HR departments etc etc etc.

But because of the Forstarter Ruling, and the Supreme Court ruling, it is now possible to use these to start clearing out the activists, by using Gross Misconduct if they fail to uphold the law.

The Labour Party does not NEED to issue guidance to do this, so if for example a new set of elected people is in charge of an area or council or any other 'elected by the people' group, and the group, area, council whatever are still not upholding the law, now and in the coming months would be a good time to remind them of their duties and the risks they are taking by failing to uphold the law.

But the Blob will also be the gatekeepers to them getting complaints which could trigger reviews and identify the risks.

Also, Labour run areas might also be having a wake up call on what people really want, and it isn't more men in female spaces and activities.

I wonder if it now time to start identifying areas where councils are, in writing, breaking the law, along with the person who is now in charge and holding that 'risk', and devise a key bullet point list of what laws are being broken, using wording that is short and to the point, that can be sent to the person now in charge in order to start things moving?

Needless to say, I don't personally care if people did lose their jobs because they put women and girls in danger, but the ideal would be to just get them to stick to the law. This would have to be the underlying 'resolution' to the complaint.

And the more people that write in personally to complain with examples of where they have encountered the 'when ideology meets reality' aspect, the better.

Anyway I slept in this morning and this was my thought upon waking. I don't even live in the UK any more, but most of my female family members do so I am still very invested in how it resolves this.

This would be a great way of new management showing they CAN DO THINGS.

There are a lot of councillors in office riding the gravy train of stipends, for which they contribute very little. Many deserve to lose their seats.

If you have a Conservative led council then they should already be following the law; recent thread here:

"Kemi Badenoch has ordered Tory councils to enforce women’s right to single-sex spaces on the first anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman.
The Conservative Party leader has told Tory-led councils to draw up plans to ban biological men from women’s toilets and changing rooms, and said that if she were to become prime minister, she would force all local authorities to do so."

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5517862-tory-councils-ordered-to-enforce-single-sex-spaces-by-badenoch?reply=151749348

But are they actually following the law?

And councils which have recently shifted from Labour to Reform should be all over this. I’ll be writing to my new councillors to make sure they have a good look at local schools services & public buildings!

I don’t think Reform are quite aware of just how much of a goldmine this issue is in terms of making other parties look completely batshit.

Abso fucking lutely.

Well, they’ve been elected, they might as well do something useful!

Advice on how to check and a lift if councils on a shared Google document of some sort.

I think it would be helpful for a shared letter example for us to send to councils reminding them of their lawful duty.

You’re absolutely right, there’s no particular guidance needed; the waiting excuse is just an excuse.

If I’m truthful, sex matters should have been all over this. I’ve been rather puzzled over their recent actions. This is exactly what they could do

WRN were all over this a few months ago.

It’s the second report on the list. https://www.womensrights.network/wrn-reports

The public are allowed to submit questions into Council to be answered at public meetings. This is a great way of getting issues in front of each council in one fell swoop, and an answer to your question in public.

A group of us did this - we asked about single sex changing in Council-run leisure centres & also about what training the council staff had had after the Supreme Court ruling & were very pleased with the answers.

Friends did the same in their area & were less impressed.

Great plan OP.

Great plan OP.

Dear [Name/Title],

I am writing to ask what steps [organisation/local authority] has taken to ensure compliance with the recent UK Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers and the legal position set out therein regarding the meaning of “sex” in the Equality Act 2010.

I would be grateful if you could clarify:

• Whether your organisation has reviewed its policies, guidance, staff training, and public-facing materials in light of the judgment
• Whether single-sex services and spaces are now being operated on the basis of biological sex, as clarified by the Court
• Whether any policies continue to rely on self-identification or Gender Recognition Certificates in circumstances where the Equality Act refers to sex-based rights or protections
• What timetable is in place for any necessary policy revisions

I note that the Equality and Human Rights Commission has publicly stated that the legal position is already clear and that organisations should not wait for updated EHRC guidance before acting. In its interim update following the judgment, the EHRC stated:

“Organisations should be aware that the Supreme Court judgment has clarified the law. They should take appropriate specialist legal advice where necessary.”

The EHRC further indicated that the judgment itself now authoritatively sets out the meaning of the relevant provisions of the Equality Act.

Given that public authorities are expected to act lawfully and consistently with the Equality Act as interpreted by the Supreme Court, I would appreciate a clear response setting out your organisation’s current position and actions.

Yours faithfully,

[Your name]

Great suggestion @Shedmistress

Women's Rights Network has already published reports on the councils in England and Scotland 'waiting for guidance' from the EHRC. You can find them both on their website
https://www.womensrights.network/wrn-reports

And love that template letter @ArabellaScott. Let's do this!

Saw this on x

https://x.com/fraserihudghton/status/2054916540005282283?s=46&t=A2fpFNgDRyXF2d6ye97wEA

Hear hear.
Dangerous times.

Letter writing to councils is a great plan, but I would wait till the guidance drops which should be in the next two weeks or so.

Otherwise they might give you a useless answer about waiting.

A huge Mumsnet campaign AFTER the guidance appears and there are no excuses is best.

Not just to councils, but every major business, NHS, university, college and school local sports groups.

Then we do follow up campaign after 3 months or so.

This is a good point

Once the guidance is tabled (and I’m not convinced it will be any time soon) I suspect answers will be along the lines of ‘we need to work through the guidance and our policies, along with taking further legal advice, which will take some time...'

I have no confidence that the guidance will make a difference.

It will when it’s clear they can be sued to fuck

They can already be sued to fuck, the law is the law and them choosing not to follow it because of crappy HR/EDI guidance or lack of the new EHRC guidance is no defence.

It's disgusting to think that women have to sue to get their legal rights upheld.

This is true. My point is that the guidance will make it clearer to them that they can be sued to fuck.

they always could be sued to fuck. They can be sued to fuck now.

The handwringing over the non publication of the guidance is pointless.

they can be sued to fuck. Today.

they all rely on the fact that the vast majority of the women who WANT to sue them to fuck don’t have the means. Except for JKR. And crowd funding.

It pisses me off. And it an example of how the patriarchy still exists.

Thanks for starting this thread @Shedmistress I just checked my council's transgender policy (which pre-dates Supreme Court judgment) and it begins with the words "Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary people are non-binary." You can guess the rest.

I'm going to first check out the toilets / signage at the town hall, before I write. Anything else I could check on?