Council agrees to 'reject' Stonewall guidance on transgender pupils and encourage schools to support new Government guidelines

A motion brought to Peterborough City Council (PCC) declaring that schools should “reject” LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall’s advice on the treatment of transgender pupils and instead “closely follow” emerging guidance from Government has won councillors’ approval.

The motion, which was brought by Cllr Ishfaq Hussain (Conservatives, Dogsthorpe), passed after 21 councillors of the 53 present at this week’s full council meeting voted in favour of it and 20 abstained; 12 voted against.

Cllr Hussain told councillors that it’s important to signal support for the coming guidelines to reassure parents that the issue is being looked at, particularly after more than 100 of them demonstrated outside a primary school in Park ward after it “didn’t follow its own guidelines and inform parents about the subject matter in a RSE (relationships and sex education) lesson it had conducted the day before”.

Cllr Hussain’s motion also says that allowing trans pupils to use the bathroom and changing rooms of their choice “may put children at risk” and that schools must “ensure that lessons are age appropriate” with parents kept informed of their subject matter.

Trans guidance for schools delayed

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak initially promised that the Government’s advice on how to treat trans pupils, as well as how to treat the subject more generally, would be ready by the summer term this year, but it has faced delays after its legal advisors suggested some elements would breach the Equalities Act according to Sky News and other outlets.

The suggestion that children shouldn’t be allowed to socially transition at school, such as by changing their name, pronouns or appearance, without a doctor’s approval, was among those that raised concerns.

Cllr Hussain’s motion mentions requiring parental consent for these things as an example of the “clear guidance” expected from Government, as well as schools being required to tell parents if their child wishes to transition, schools being able to refuse to socially transition children if they believe it may harm the well-being of other children and children who use different pronouns from their biological sex being banned from competitive school sports.

Motion ‘risks putting young people with gender dysphoria at risk’

The motion was particularly criticised by Cllr Chris Wiggin (Liberal Democrats, Hampton Vale) who said it “risks putting young people with gender dysphoria at risk” and asks the council to “take actions that could be against the law”.

“We should be giving appropriate support for those who need it, whether medical or pastoral, not telling them they can’t use a certain bathroom or you can’t go and play with the other children,” he said.

“We should be asking for evidence and support from those who are experts in the field, not dismissing the likes of Stonewall,” he continued. “The Government guidance will not protect children. Ministers are more interested in fighting culture wars to fire up the electoral base ahead of the general election than providing help to marginalised communities.”

Cllr Wiggins also said that Stonewall, which was described as a “lobbying group” by Cllr Hussain, does have guidance for parents as well as schools, as the motion said its advice “fails to mention parents at all”.

While it was the Liberal Democrats who most harshly criticised the motion, Cllr Hussain said he “understands it may be difficult for Labour councillors [to support the motion] because of their parliamentary candidate that’s been selected who’s a trustee of Stonewall”.

Cllr Mohammed Jamil (Labour, Central) raised a point of order over this comment about their candidate Andrew Pakes, calling it a “personal attack”, but meeting chair Cllr Nick Sandford (Liberal Democrats, Paston and Walton) said that it’s not a breach of the standing orders to make a personal attack and that this “happens quite a lot in this council chamber”.

Labour says it welcomes national guidance and that parents and carers are ‘prime educators’

Labour in fact took a less dim view of the motion than the Liberal Democrats, with its deputy leader Cllr Amjad Iqbal (Labour, Central) saying he was minded to abstain from the motion but that the party welcomes guidance being issued by Government.

“Labour is clear that parents and carers are the prime educators for children and that schools complement and reinforce that role,” he said. “We back parents; we welcome national guidance – teachers have been left without guidance for years.

“We believe in protecting the safety and rights of women and girls,” he continued. “We also believe these issues should be dealt with sensitively rather than through a megaphone.”

Councillors question point of the motion

The motion, ultimately called on the council to “review the national guidance, once published” and on schools to implement it was also criticised by several councillors for, in Cllr Christian Hogg’s (Liberal Democrats, Fletton and Stanground) words, putting the “cart before the horse”.

The guidance has not yet been published and it would always have been reviewed by the council’s relevant cabinet members and officers, so the motion in effect doesn’t bring about any new actions, they said.

Former cabinet member Cllr John Howard (Peterborough First, Hargate and Hempstead) said that it’s an “insult, frankly” to ask that this be done when it’s entirely routine.

“I don’t really see what this motion is trying to do other than politic a very sensitive issue,” he said.

Council leader Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald (Conservatives, West) agreed that reviewing national guidance is the “bread and butter” of what cabinet members and council officers do, but added that it “doesn’t do any harm” to reinforce to concerned parents and residents that the council is aware of the issue and is “ahead of the game”.