Long-awaited trans guidance for schools still not ready, minister admits

Long-awaited guidance to help schools with students who are questioning their gender is still not ready, the education secretary has admitted.

Ministers had said schools would be provided with the guidance before pupils broke up for their summer holidays, but Gillian Keegan said it is "still not complete".

In an interview with broadcasters about how teaching unions in England had agreed to end strikes, Ms Keegan was asked why the guidance had still not been published.

"It’s still not complete. I was hoping to get it out before the school holidays. It is quite tricky to try and navigate this and I think we wanted to just take a little bit of time," she said.

"I think it is so sensitive and we wanted to make sure we got it right and we also want to take a bit of time to just consult with more school leaders and teachers as well because we kept it to a quite small group.

"So we just wanted to consult a bit more widely as well but hopefully we are still working on it and hopefully it shouldn't be too long."

The guidance is supposed to help schools deal with issues such as whether to introduce gender-neutral toilets or changing rooms.

In July, the government confirmed that long-awaited guidance would be delayed, saying this was to allow more time to ensure the contents meet the “high expectations” of teachers and parents.

Labour has criticised ministers for delaying issuing the guidance, insisting schools, parents and pupils are “sick and tired” of reading conflicting rumours about it in the newspapers.

The prime minister’s official spokesman has previously said the government wanted to ensure the guidance “places the wellbeing and safety of children at its heart and that it makes sure that parents are always the ones that have the first say”.

But in March, Rishi Sunak said the guidance would be published in time for the school summer term, which is now over.

Asked, during a visit to Oxfordshire at the end of March, about claims of schools not informing parents as soon as a child questions their gender identity, Mr Sunak said: “I’m very concerned about these reports.

“For me, the safety and wellbeing of our children is of paramount importance. And I’ve also been clear that parents must be able to know what is being taught to their kids in school, especially on these sensitive areas.

“That’s why we’re already reviewing the RSE (relationships and sex education) guidance to make sure that it is age appropriate for children.

“But also what I’m also going to say today is that for the summer term we will make sure that we publish guidance for schools so that they know how to respond when children are asking about their gender.

“These are really sensitive areas, it’s important that we treat them sensitively, and that parents know what’s going on, and we’ll make sure that that happens.”

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