Question reference: S5W-31318
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 20 August 2020
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 September 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) proposing to review its Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy in December 2018, an SPS spokesperson stating in May 2019 that the review would commence "in the coming weeks", the SPS stating in August 2019 that it was "committed to reviewing the policy and holding an open consultation" and, in January 2020, the SPS stating that a review would take place in "early 2020", whether the review has commenced and, if not, when it is expected to do so.
Answer
Internal consultation in respect of those in custody has already been undertaken with those in our care and staff. It had been intended to start a targeted external consultation (to include those such as MSPs who had expressed specific interest, and others who have relevant organisational expertise) in March but this was unfortunately delayed due to COVID lockdown.
SPS is currently in the process of summarising the information obtained during the internal consultation to provide briefing for those who participate in the planned external consultation process. It is anticipated that the external consultation will be initiated towards the end of September with a view to conducting interviews during October, November and December 2020. The interview process should allow time for appropriate sharing and clarification before any policy refinement is undertaken in the New Year.