Non-Binary Equality Working Group recommendations: Scottish Government response

Summary of our Response

1. The Group put forward thirty-five recommendations. One recommendation related to policy development. The remainder were organised under three key areas containing several themes:

• Healthcare (transition-related healthcare, mental health, primary care, fertility preservation)
• Data and Law (data collection in research, data collection by service providers, sex and gender in data guidance in Scotland, legal recognition and gendered law)
• Access to Services (building design, crisis and support services, sport, education)

2. For each recommendation, we have set out the Scottish Government's decision followed by a brief rationale. Our decisions are categorised into four types:

ACCEPT

The recommendation is within our devolved competency, consistent with the Scottish Government's policy objectives, and otherwise achievable.

PARTIALLY ACCEPT

The recommendation is agreed in principle, but not to the full extent suggested by the Group.

CONSIDER FURTHER

The recommendation and its impact is not fully understood at this time, or its feasibility could not be established before publication. These decisions will be evaluated over the coming months and when we produce our Action Plan, they will be changed to either accept, partially accept, or decline.

DECLINE

The recommendation is not consistent with the Scottish Government's overall policy objectives; or not achievable.

4. Overall this means we have accepted, either in full or in part, 24 of the 35 recommendations. We will consider 8 recommendations further and reach a conclusive decision before Spring 2023, when the Action Plan will be published. We have declined only 3 recommendations. This represents a significant commitment to advancing the rights, equality, and wellbeing of non-binary people in Scotland.

5. The next phase of activity is developing our Action Plan, which will include more details on how each commitment will be taken forward, as well as provisional timescales for how long they will take to implement.