Police Scotland chief constable Jo Farrell; inside Barlinnie Prison for men, and Cornton Vale Prison women’s jail, which has now been replaced with a new facility. Pictured top of page is sex offender Isla Bryson from West Dunbartonshire.
By Bill Heaney
Police Scotland have confirmed they do not have any information on the number of registered sex offenders who have changed their gender.
This revelation – in response to a Scottish Conservative Freedom of Information request – highlights a broken promise from the SNP Government, who said they would change the law to require this, during the passage of their flawed Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
It also comes against a backdrop of the Scottish Prison Service unveiling its updated policy on trans inmates, which fails to guarantee that all male-born offenders with a history of violence against women will be barred from the female prison estate.
The Scottish Conservatives tried to ban registered sex offenders from obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate whilst still on the register during the Bill’s passage, to prevent them misusing GRCs to gain access to single-sex spaces for women.
But SNP, Green and Lib Dem MSPs voted down the amendment.
Shadow justice secretary Russell Findlay, pictured right, is urging the SNP Government to ‘fast-track’ legislation to ensure sex offenders have to, at the very least, notify the police when they are changing gender.
Russell Findlay MSP said: “This alarming admission from Police Scotland exposes another broken SNP promise.
“During the passing of their gender self-ID law, Shona Robison said that the rules would be changed so the police would be entitled to know when registered sex offenders change their gender identity. This has not happened.
“Officers whose job is to keep people safe must be told when a sex offender changes their identity in any way.
“The existence of this loophole means that predatory criminals, most of whom are men, can exploit gender identity to go to ground, putting women and girls at increased risk.”
Police Scotland confirmed they do not know how many registered sex offenders have changed gender. A freedom of information response from Police Scotland confirmed: ‘The is no requirement under the aforementioned legislation of notification requirements that requires a RSO to notify of a gender change. As such this information is not available.’ (Police Scotland FOI response, 16 November 2023, Available on request).
The SNP promised to introduce new rules requiring sex offenders to notify the police if they were going to change gender. Shona Robison told Holyrood’s Equalities Committee: ‘I can inform the committee today that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans will, before the bill is commenced, introduce regulations to amend the sex offender notification requirements so that those who are on the register are required to notify the police with details about whether they have made an application for a gender recognition certificate.’ (Official report, 15 November 2022, link).
SNP, Green and Lib Dem votes meant that sex offenders are eligible to obtain Gender Recognition Certificates. Amendment 18 from Scottish Conservative MSP Russell Findlay which prohibited convicted sex offenders from applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate whilst they were still on the sex offenders register was rejected by 64 to 59 votes. The SNP, Scottish Greens and Lib Dems all voted against the amendment. (The Scottish Parliament, 20 December 2022, link).
The Scottish Prison Service’s new transgender prisoner policy allows transgender prisoners convicted of sexual or violent offences to be housed in women’s prisons if ‘they do not present an unacceptable risk’. The Scottish Prison Service’s new transgender prisoner policy states: ‘A transgender woman who meets these criteria [of being convicted/accused of certain offences] will not be transferred to a women’s prison unless the Risk Management Team, and subsequently the Executive Panel, are satisfied there is compelling evidence that they do not present an unacceptable risk of harm to those in the women’s prison.’ (SPS Policy for the Management of Transgender People in Custody, 5 December 2023).