Labour MPs Raise Alarm Over Equalities Watchdog's Use Of AI
3 min read
Labour MPs are concerned the equalities watchdog is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to sift through responses to a survey which may determine who can use single-sex spaces.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) launched a six-week consultation in May on revising its draft code of conduct, receiving more than 50,000 responses.
The decision came as a result of April’s Supreme Court ruling, which unanimously ruled references to man, woman and sex were references to biological sex in the Equality Act 2010.
An EHRC spokesperson claimed the use of AI and machine learning is “an important part of the analysis process to ensure a balance of robustness, accuracy and speed” including objectivity and consistency.
They added: “While the exact method is still being tested, it will involve supervised use of AI to categorise responses into themes that will be considered alongside our expert legal assessment of consultation responses and review the consultation draft of the code of practice.”
Following the Supreme Court ruling, the equalities watchdog published an interim update setting out its consequences. It said that in workplaces and services open to the public trans people should only use the single-sex facilities of their biological sex.
Tony Vaughan KC, Labour MP for Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh, wrote to EHRC chair Baroness Falkner in June to request a meeting with 32 other Labour MPs raising concerns that the new advice could discriminate against trans people.
PoliticsHome understands that more backbench Labour MPs wanted to sign the letter but are yet to come out publicly.
More than 10 Labour MPs attended the meeting in Westminster in late July to discuss the changes to the consultation.
One MP at the meeting told PoliticsHome they felt "befuddled" after being told they did not understand how the law worked. They added that they were primarily concerned the use of AI in responding to the consultation could be problematic and lead to errors.
Vaughan told PoliticsHome the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers was clear that its ruling would “not be disadvantageous to or remove protection from trans people with or without a GRC”, referring to Gender Recognition Certificates, which recognise acquired genders.
The Labour MP argued that the EHRC’s approach risked doing precisely that – opening the door to discrimination and harassment against both trans people and women.
“I sincerely hope that the EHRC listens to the personal experiences of the thousands of people who will have responded to the consultation,” said Vaughan. “The EHRC must give clear, practical guidance for service providers who wish to be trans-inclusive.”
Falkner has said that since the Supreme Court judgement it has been the job of the EHRC to provide “authoritative guidance". She argued in an op-ed for The House magazine that it was unacceptable to question the integrity of the judiciary, or indeed the regulator, as some have done.
The EHRC does not make the law but simply sets out the implications for affected bodies, so has made clear that employers and others should comply with the judgment immediately.
A spokesperson from the EHRC said: “As we work to update our Code of Practice in response to the Supreme Court judgment, we have a responsibility to keep affected stakeholders informed and to listen to what they have to say.
“We have done this proactively, through in-person and virtual meetings, and through our consultation, which received more than 50,000 responses.
“Our meeting with MPs last week was a valuable opportunity to explain the work we’ve carried out so far, and the next steps as we consider the responses to our consultation.”
