Mary-Ann Stephenson has been confirmed as the new chair of the equalities watchdog, after the government overruled the objections of parliament’s equalities committee over her suitability for the job.
Stephenson, the chair of the Women’s Budget Group, will take on the role at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in December. It includes responsibility for implementing guidance about transgender rights after the supreme court judgment on the definition of a woman.
The women and equalities committee and the joint committee on human rights had together raised objections about the appointment, saying her experience was not sufficient in the area of protected characteristics such as race and disability.
The committees, chaired by Sarah Owen and David Alton, had written to the equalities minister Bridget Phillipson saying: “It is clear that Dr Stephenson has extensive academic credibility in the field of women’s rights and has an important contribution to make to public life.
“However, it is with regret that we do not feel we can endorse her appointment to the role at this time. Our reasons relate to our concerns about vision and leadership, about breadth of expertise across the wide remit of the EHRC, and about rebuilding trust.”
Stephenson was announced as the UK government’s preferred candidate in June and gave evidence before the committees in July.
Following her appointment, Stephenson said it was a “great honour to be appointed as the new chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission at such a critical time”.
“I have spent over 30 years building my career across the equality and human rights sector and I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring my insight and experience to lead the EHRC with compassion, honesty and dedication,” she said.
“I look forward to working with the government and all stakeholders alongside my new colleagues at the EHRC to uphold equality and human rights and ensure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.”
Stephenson will replace Kishwer Falkner in the job of chair. The EHRC is drawing up an updated code of practice on how public bodies should react to April’s court decision that “woman” in the Equality Act refers only to a biological woman.
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It is intended to set out to businesses and those running public spaces how the ruling affects single-sex spaces such as toilets and changing rooms, building on initial advice issued soon after the ruling.
The guidance will attempt to navigate a path for how organisations can provide single-sex and gender-neutral spaces such as toilets, changing rooms and associations.
In April, the EHRC released interim, non-statutory advice about how to interpret the ruling, which set out that transgender people should not be allowed to use toilets of the gender they live as. There are now attempts at a judicial review of the EHRC guidance by the Good Law Project and others.
