The government feared that the Nicola Sturgeon Trans Act would harm the rights of English women

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The government fears the Nicola Sturgeon Trans Act will undermine women’s rights in schools, hospitals and prisons in England, the Telegraph understands.

She is concerned that the controversial legislation could make it more difficult for English hospitals to ensure patients receive intimate care from members of the same sex.

Government lawyers have been tasked with looking into the issue and also examining whether the new laws mean that single-sex schools may have to change their rules to allow people who have changed their sex to attend.

Under the new Edinburgh law, passed by the Scottish Parliament, people will no longer need a medical diagnosis before they can legally change their sex and obtain a ‘Certificate of Gender Recognition’.

Children will also be able to legally change their gender at the age of 16, rather than having to wait until 18 as is the case at present.

However, the UK government says that only Westminster can legislate on equality issues.

Checked by lawyers

The Scottish legislation is currently under scrutiny from government lawyers before ministers decide later this month on whether to repeal it.

A government source told The Telegraph on Saturday: “The SNP has rushed into this legislation without fully considering its implications for the safety of women and girls.

“This isn’t UK government versus Scottish government, it’s about ensuring reasonable legislation doesn’t risk making life harder and more dangerous for UK citizens.”

It is understood that government lawyers are looking at three issues: how the new law might affect the NHS, education and criminal justice across the UK.

In terms of health, they are considering whether the new law will mean that it will be more difficult to guarantee same-sex care. The law makes it easier for people to change their legal gender, which means there may be more health workers who change their gender.

What does that mean for education

Lawyers are also examining what the new rules could mean for education.

Nowadays, single-sex schools can decide their own policies on gender and gender, such as whether they accept people who have changed their gender.

However, Scottish legislation lowers the age at which people can change sex from 18 to 16.

This means that as more sixth graders change their gender, single-sex schools could face pressure to change their admissions rules.

There could also be criminal justice implications, as the Prison Service in England and Wales treats people differently based on whether they have a sex confession certificate.

There are fears that any offender with a certificate recognized by the UK government would be placed on the property of women, and not transferred or transferred to a special unit for transgender prisoners, if they were deemed to be at too high risk.

‘Tear UK standards’

Maya Forstadter, chief executive of Sex Matters, said: “The Scottish bill shreds the UK standards for awarding a certificate of sex recognition based on medical assessment, and allows anyone to obtain a GRC based on a declaration, without medical treatments or safeguards.

“This means that there will be more people able to obtain a certificate, and organizations will never be able to feel confident excluding someone who is clearly male from female-only spaces and services.

“The main question for the UK government is whether it will accept people who have gone through the Scottish system but were born in England and Wales to change the sex on their birth certificate. Scotland will in fact act as a ‘haven’ for the light regulations which then spread across the UK.”

She added: “For schools there will be major problems. The law allows single-sex schools, but now schools will be faced with having to accept a child of the opposite sex, and will be threatened with criminal penalties if teachers and staff disclose the child’s actual sex to other staff, pupils or parents.”

The UK government does not have to accept this outcome. She must take the Bill to the High Court and ensure that the Scottish Parliament only legislates within its own scope, and does not neglect women’s rights and child protection.”

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