UK Supreme Court Judgement (For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers) working group: terms of reference

Context

On 16 April 2025, the UK Supreme Court delivered its judgment in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v. The Scottish Ministers ruling that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (2010 Act), the definition of “woman” is based on biological sex.

Therefore the Court found that a person with a full Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) identifying them as female, is not considered a "woman" under the Act 2010. This decision has significant implications for policy, legislation, and guidance across the Scottish Government.

The First Minister requested a Scottish Government-wide collaborative response to ensure consistent understanding of the ruling and alignment across directorates. In April 2025, the Permanent Secretary established a Working Group to undertake the necessary steps required to respond to the ruling.

The regulator of the 2010 Act, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), indicated that a revised Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations would be laid before the UK Parliament by summer recess 2025. The EHRC delayed this initial timescale to consult more widely and conclude their analysis of the public consultation. A  preliminary/draft Code of Practice is currently with the UK Government for analysis and approval before it is laid in the UK Parliament. The Scottish Government responded to the EHRC’s consultation on 25 July 2025 and wrote to the UK Government on 17 November 2025 providing comments on the final draft to the UK Government in late 2025 to assist with their own analysis. 

The Working Group continues to meet to ensure clarity of messaging and progress across Directorates in responding to the ruling.  

Remit

Purpose

The purpose of the Working Group is to:

• Ensure a consistent and accurate understanding of the ruling across government
• Review policies, guidance and legislation within Scottish Government Directorates that may be impacted by the ruling
• Raise issues and agree collective actions/solutions as required to respond to the ruling
• Evaluate and ensure ongoing policy and guidance is compliant with the ruling and updated messaging from the EHRC
• Enable all directorates to evaluate and ensure compliance with the ruling and any future EHRC updates
• Monitor and track progress on agreed actions, including recognition of risks and mitigations
• Consistently and collectively provide timely updates to Ministers on the Government’s planned actions in relation to the ruling and EHRC guidance

Scope

The Working Group is a single shared space for free and open discussion relating to the UK Supreme Court judgment across Scottish Government Directorates.

The group recognises the wide ranging implications of this judgment and the importance of outlining what is in scope for the Working Group. As such the scope will include

• Scottish Government policy, services and guidance impacted by the Supreme Court Judgement which confirmed the position that within the Equality Act 2010, the definition of “woman” is based on biological sex, meaning sex at birth
• Legal advice, where required, to ensure changes to current policy/guidance is accurately aligned to the Equality Act 2010
• Ensuring Directorates are aware of their responsibilities when the EHRC, as the regulator of the Equality Act 2010, publish an updated Code of Practice
• Recommendations for wider consultation, stakeholder engagement, and management of risks

Terms

Membership

The Working Group is convened by, and reports directly to, the Permanent Secretary and is Chaired by the Director General for Education and Justice.

The Working Group is composed of senior officials across all relevant Scottish Government Directorates and portfolios.

Membership will include, but not be limited to:

• Chair: Director General for Education and Justice
• Members: Include representatives from every DG in Scottish Government:
  • Director General for Education and Justice
  • Director General Health and Social Care
  • Director General Communities
  • Director General Corporate
  • Director General Exchequer, Strategy and Performance
  • Director General Net Zero
  • Director General Economy
• Secretariat: Equality Division

Additional members: Subject matter experts may be invited to contribute as required.

Roles and responsibilities

Chair:

• lead meetings and ensure effective delivery of the Working Group’s purpose and scope
• provide strategic oversight and direction
• ensure escalation of key issues to the Permanent Secretary and Ministers

Members:

• represent their Directorate and ensure appropriate information flow to internal teams
• actively participate in discussions and deliver agreed collective actions
• identify issues early and collaborate on cross-cutting solutions
• identify risks and mitigations that may be required to support
• provide updates to the secretariat out with the meeting, as required, on progress of actions

Secretariat:

• manage meeting scheduling, agendas, and documentation including publication of minutes
• monitor progress against actions and risks
• support the Chair in coordinating appropriate reports for the Permanent Secretary and Ministers

 Quorum and meeting attendance

• unless otherwise agreed each Directorate is expected to have a representative at all scheduled meetings who can actively contribute to discussions and outputs

Time commitment and meeting structure

• the Working Group will meet fortnightly, or more frequently if required, depending on developments and outcomes of previous meetings
• meetings will be scheduled for 1.5 hours
• hybrid arrangements will be made for meetings, virtual using MS Teams or in person at Scottish Government Estates
• location to be confirmed by the Secretariat a week before the scheduled meeting

Governance and Reporting

• the Group reports directly to the Permanent Secretary, and each Director General is responsible for ensuring work is progressing in their respective areas
• the Director General for Education and Justice is responsible as Chair for ensuring escalation of key issues to the Permanent Secretary and Ministers with support provided by the Equalities Division
• a tracker will capture activity across Directorates and identify associated risk to delivery.  This will be updated fortnightly to coincide with Working Group meetings
• all meeting outcomes, action points, and decisions will be recorded and shared with members in a timely manner
• minutes of the previous meeting will be confirmed at each meeting, once approval is confirmed these will be made publicly available through the working group page
• colleagues are to provide any updates to the minutes ahead of the scheduled meeting to allow for changes before final agreement. If colleagues do not agree to minutes amendments must be submitted ahead of the next scheduled meeting

Review

• the Chair will regularly assess the necessity and frequency of meetings to ensure the purpose of the Working Group is appropriate and that governance processes are in place to support the activity required to consistently respond to the ruling
• the Terms of Reference for this group will be reviewed and updated regularly in line with the needs of the group