Guidance on trans pupils for schools is embroiled in Cabinet row

Guidance on trans pupils for schools is embroiled in Cabinet row that could delay its introduction until the next school year

• Rishi Sunak promised parents in March the plan would be published this week 
• But Gillian Keegan yesterday said guidance would be published in the ‘new term’

Guidance for schools on how to deal with trans pupils has become embroiled in a Cabinet row that could delay its introduction until the next school year.

Rishi Sunak promised parents in March that the long-awaited plan would be published this week, before schools break up for the summer holidays. But Government sources last night warned it could be pushed back amid last-minute legal wrangling over whether teachers must use pupils’ preferred pronouns.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan yesterday said the guidance would be published in the ‘near term’, but did not guarantee when this would take place.

The row focuses on the extent to which schools will be required to recognise pupils who want to ‘socially transition’ to a new gender without medical involvement.

Mrs Keegan said last month that children should be allowed to use the pronouns of their choice in school, provided they have parental consent. But the move is said to be opposed by equalities minister Kemi Badenoch, who has been lobbying Rishi Sunak to toughen up the Government’s stance.

Guidance for schools on how to deal with trans pupils has become embroiled in a Cabinet row that could delay its introduction until the next school year (File image) 

Rishi Sunak (pictured) had promised parents in March that the long-awaited plan would be published this week, before schools break up for the summer holidays

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan (pictured) yesterday said the guidance would be published in the ‘near term’, but did not guarantee when this would take place

Ministers have agreed that trans pupils should not be allowed to use the toilets of their adopted gender or take part in single sex sports. But division remains over so-called social transitioning.

One Whitehall source said the issue had now become mired in legal argument about its precise wording.

READ MORE: Children must not be allowed to switch identities in schools without telling their parents, Rishi Sunak says

‘This guidance is now being pushed to the harder end of things and that means more lawyers are getting involved,’ the source said. ‘We have to take the time to get this right.’ Another source said: ‘The issue is not between Gillian and Kemi but whether the Department for Education officials have delivered on what everyone, including the Prime Minister, has previously stated on this issue.

‘Kemi does not agree with the idea of social transitioning. These are children dealing with serious changes – you need doctors involved and the guidance should reflect that.’

The Association of School and College Lecturers has warned that teachers have been left to navigate a ‘minefield’ on trans rights for years. But yesterday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters that the guidance was ‘still being worked on’.

‘Obviously it’s a sensitive area and they want to take the time to get it right,’ he said. ‘It’s right we consider all sides and get the requisite expert experience and opinion to help us draw up the guidance. That does take time. It’s not something we want to rush.’

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