Charities call on EHRC for more time to consult on gender ruling

More than 20 leading charities and service providers have urged the equalities watchdog to extend a consultation to devise guidance on the landmark supreme court ruling about gender, saying the current timetable is too rushed for proper engagement.

- Peter Walker

In a letter seen by the Guardian, organisations including Refuge, Britain's largest charity for women affected by domestic abuse, and the mental health charity Mind, say the six-week consultation risked creating "rushed" guidance.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is updating its code of practice for public bodies in the light of April's court decision that "woman" in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman.

It is intended to set out to businesses and those running public spaces how the ruling affects single-sex spaces such as toilets and changing rooms, building on initial advice issued soon after the ruling.