Supporting Transgender Persons, Department of Health and Social Services

​​​​Request ​​757615980

The UK Supreme Court ruled on 16 April 2025 to clarify that the definition of sex in the Equality Act (2010) as meaning biological sex. 

In June 2025, the Jersey and Guernsey Law Review June 2025 published an article concluding that Jersey should be applying the UK Supreme Court ruling here. 

This is a significant and important development with far-reaching consequences for Jersey policy and practice. 

I have contacted all Jersey government departments with guidance which currently does not comply with the UK Supreme Court. One has already responded confirming that their guidance has been updated to reflect the UK Supreme Court ruling on the basis of advice from the Law Officers’ Department. 

The Guidance for which Health and Care Jersey is responsible: “Policy for Supporting Transgender Persons, Department of Health and Social Services” (Oct 2017) is non-compliant with the law. This includes the following: 

1) General principle of treatment in “chosen gender” (Section 3.3.1, p. 5) *. “HSSD will ensure that Trans people, both service users and staff, are accepted and treated at all times as the gender in which they permanently present…”. By prioritizing “chosen gender” universally, the policy fails to align with the EA 2010’s biological sex definition, potentially violating provisions requiring sex-based distinctions (e.g., single-sex accommodations). 

2) Inpatient accommodation based on gender presentation (Section 3.3.2, p. 6-7) 

3) Emergency Department and gender inferences (Section 3.3.3, p. 7-8) 

4) Children and young people’s accommodation (Section 3.3.6, p. 9) 

5) Bereavement and Death Registration (Section 3.3.5, p. 8-9) 

6) Pronoun mandates, use of language (Section 3.3.7.2, p. 10) 

Questions:

1. Please provide copies of any internal correspondence, reports, memoranda, or meeting minutes produced or received by Health and Social Care Jersey between 16 April 2025 and the present that discuss, assess, or acknowledge the need to revise the Policy for Supporting Transgender Persons (October 2017) to align with the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, the Jersey and Guernsey Law Review (June 2025) article, or advice from the Law Officers’ Department (LOD) regarding compliance with this ruling.

2. Please provide any records, including but not limited to meeting minutes, project plans, correspondence with the Law Officers’ Department, internal briefings, or working group documents, created or received by Health and Social Care Jersey between 16 April 2025 and the present, that detail actions, plans, or discussions undertaken to review or revise the Policy for Supporting Transgender Persons (October 2017) in response to the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16.

3. Please provide a copy of any updated version of the Policy for Supporting Transgender Persons (October 2017) held by Health and Social Care Jersey as of the date of this request.

4. Please provide copies of any documents, such as project plans, timelines, correspondence, or meeting minutes, held by Health and Social Care Jersey as of the date of this request, that outline the planned timeline or schedule for revising the Policy for Supporting Transgender Persons (October 2017) to align with the UK Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16.

Response

1, 2 and 4

Information in scope of this request has been prepared for disclosure. Keyword searches of the Government of Jersey’s email system have been performed for the timeframe requested. Senior health officials, including the Director of Mental Health, Social Care and Community Services, the Director of Health Policy, and the Minister for Health and Social Services were in scope of the searches.

Duplicates, and emails or attachments that are entirely exempt have been removed, and documents have been redacted in consideration of Freedom of Information legislation. Redactions have been colour coded for ease of reference.

▪ Redactions have been applied to the personal information of individuals in consideration of Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011. Redactions based on this exemption are shown in pale yellow. Names and email contact details of senior Government of Jersey employees and Ministers / Assistant Ministers are disclosed.

▪ Redactions in black denote information which has been determined as exempt from disclosure in accordance with Article 31 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 [Advice by the Bailiff, Deputy Bailiff or a Law Officer].

▪ Information that is outside of the scope of this request has been redacted in grey.

[LINK Redacted pack]​

3

There has been no update to Health and Care Jersey’s (HCJ) Policy for Supporting Transgender Persons (October 2017) as yet.

As noted at the HCJ Advisory Board meeting of 29 May 2025 (minutes of which are published in the July 2025 Board papers, HCS Advisory Board - Papers - Part A - July 2025.pdf p.17):

‘The final guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission is awaited, like other UK health providers. Once issued, local policies will be reviewed to ensure compliance. This will balance accurate clinical data with respect for identity.’

Articles applied

Article 25 Personal information 

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005. 

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if – 

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018;​ and 

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law. 

Article 31 Advice by the Bailiff, Deputy Bailiff or a Law Officer 

Information is qualified exempt information if it is or relates to the provision of advice by the Bailiff, Deputy Bailiff or the Attorney General or the Solicitor General.

Public Interest Test

Article 31 is a qualified exemption and, as such, Health and Care Jersey (HCJ) has conducted a public interest test as required by law.

Article 31 of the Freedom of Information Law recognises the constitutional Convention for Government to observe confidentiality in respect of advice provided by Law Officers. The underlying purpose of this confidentiality is to protect fully informed decision making by allowing Government to seek legal advice in private, without concern of any adverse inferences being drawn from either the content of the advice or the fact that it was sought. It ensures that Government is neither discouraged from seeking advice in appropriate cases, nor pressured to seek advice in inappropriate cases. It is considered the importance of protecting the constitutional Law Officer privilege outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information redacted under this exemption.​