Official Statistics

Gender Recognition Certificate statistics: January to March 2014

Quarterly official statistics on Gender Recognition Certificates applied for and granted by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service’s Gender Recognition Panel.

Documents

Details

These quarterly bulletins are released by the Ministry of Justice and produced in accordance with arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Introduction

This quarterly bulletin presents the latest statistics on Gender Recognition Certificates applied for and granted by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service’s (HMCTS) Gender Recognition Panel during the quarter January to March 2014, along with quarterly data since April 2009.

The Gender Recognition Panel was established by the Gender Recognition Act 2004, which enables transsexual people to change their legal gender and gain the rights and responsibilities of their acquired gender. All applications are determined by the Panel and successful applicants receive a Gender Recognition Certificate.

There are two application processes for obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate:

  1. Standard track applications are those submitted under the standard application process, on the basis of having lived permanently in the acquired gender for two years or more.
  2. Overseas track applications are those submitted under the overseas application process, on the basis of having changed gender under the law of an approved country or territory outside the United Kingdom.

Executive summary

The number of applications for Gender Recognition Certificates received in the period January to March 2014 was 77, in line with the average quarterly figure.

Between January and March 2014, 75 applications were dealt with, an increase of 34% compared to this period last year, and just 3% less than the number dealt with during the previous quarter.

A full Gender Recognition Certificate was issued in 89% of cases dealt with; of these 70% were issued to individuals who were registered male at birth, while 30% were issued to individuals who were registered female at birth. The proportion of certificates granted to people registered female at birth has generally risen over the last 2 years.

Of the 173 interim Gender Recognition Certificates granted between 1 April 2005 and 31 March 2014, to date 67% have been converted to a full certificate. For those people that convert interim certificates to full certificates, the majority (59%) of people convert within 30 weeks.

The bulletin is produced and handled by the ministry’s analytical professionals and production staff.

Pre-release information

In addition to Ministry of Justice professional and production staff, pre-release access to the quarterly statistics of up to 24 hours is granted to the following postholders:

Ministry of Justice: Secretary of State, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Permanent Secretary, Chief Executive of HMCTS, Director of Civil, Family and Tribunals, Director General of Finance and Corporate Services, Director of Analytical Services, Chief Statistician, Head of Special and Cross Cutting Tribunals, Deputy Director for Tribunals, Policy Advisers for Gender Recognition & Human Rights, Press Officers and Relevant Special Advisers.

Published 5 June 2014