Public confidence in policing is under threat because of a lack of progress on implementing the Supreme Court’s transgender ruling, it was claimed yesterday.
Katharina Kasper, a member of the board of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), questioned whether there was a ‘policy vacuum’ over whether rapists can self-identify as women.
In a bombshell judgment in April, the Supreme Court stated the words ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
Top brass had promised a full report on updates to their guidance but yesterday presented an ‘interim’ report on progress – which Ms Kasper said was ‘disappointing’.
Last night Scottish Tory equalities spokesman Tess White said: ‘Even SPA board members are rightly raising concerns about Police Scotland dragging its feet on the Supreme Court ruling.
‘This should not be up for debate and the public will understandably be asking why the force is still not complying with its legal obligations.
‘SNP ministers must issue an urgent directive to all public bodies, including Police Scotland, to follow the law immediately so that the public retain confidence in their decision-making.’
At a virtual meeting of the SPA’s policing performance committee, Ms Kasper challenged Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs and Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton about trans issues.
Ms Kasper voiced a ‘degree of frustration’, adding: ‘I am concerned about public confidence in Police Scotland because this process has been taking so long, and about the impact on officers and staff.’
She said Police Scotland’s policy on recording gender remained unclear despite the Supreme Court ruling which should have cleared up any confusion.
In March, police chiefs asked an equalities watchdog – the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) – for advice about whether they should allow rapists to self-identify as women, and provide single-sex changing rooms for staff.
Last year Chief Constable Jo Farrell said the public and MSPs should be ‘assured’ that a man who commits rape or serious sexual assault will always be recorded as male.
In March, the Mail revealed that this stance, which campaigners said was a major policy U-turn, was not communicated to officers, sparking claims that police may have misled parliament.
Responding to Ms Kasper, Ms Paton said ‘policing is not immune to the complexity of this issue’, adding that she ‘acknowledged [Ms Kasper’s] frustration’, while Mr Speirs said she ‘understood’ her concerns.
It came after Ms White raised a formal complaint with Police Scotland about a ‘shocking’ internal document which compared gender-critical campaigners to Nazis.
She was prompted to act after the Mail revealed the paper said ‘gender binary’ – the belief there are two genders – was a ‘key feature’ of Hitler’s ideology.