Government ‘Minded’ to Make Puberty Blocker Ban Permanent, High Court Told

Health Secretary Wes Streeting leaving Downing Street, London, after a Cabinet meeting on July 9, 2024. Lucy North/PA Wire

The Labour government is “minded” to make permanent an emergency ban on puberty blockers issued by the Tories, the High Court was told on Friday.

The Government Legal Department made the revelation in an email during a legal challenge against the ban, which currently covers the period between June 3 and Sept. 3.

The banning order, which prohibits private gender clinics from prescribing puberty blockers to under-18s in England, Scotland, and Wales, was issued by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on May 29 when the Conservative’s Victoria Atkins was heading the department, and a week after a general election was called.

Campaign group TransActual, and a young person who cannot be named, are challenging the ban, with their lawyers saying the order was unlawful.

In an email on Friday morning after instructions from the DHSC, lawyers from the Government Legal Department said: “The Government supports implementation of the Cass Review and, subject to the outcome of these proceedings, is minded to renew the emergency banning order with a view to converting it to a permanent ban, subject to appropriate consultation.

“The Government is committed to providing young people with holistic care, in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review.”

In a statement after the hearing, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the government “will always put the safety of children first.”

“Our approach will continue to be informed by Dr. Cass’s review, which found there was insufficient evidence to show puberty blockers were safe for under 18s.

“This ban brings the private sector in line with the NHS. We are committed to providing young people with the evidence-led care that they deserve.”

Cass Review

The Cass Review refers to an independent review of England’s NHS gender identity services, led by paediatrician Dr. Hilary Cass, which found that studies on the effects of puberty blockers are of poor quality.

Prior to publishing her final report, Dr. Cass had recommended NHS England only offer puberty blockers under a research protocol. The recommendation has been adopted by NHS England.

The review has also led to Scottish health boards’ decision to pause the prescription of puberty blockers to new patients, as well as the halt of public-funded puberty blockers in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Emergency Process

At a High Court hearing on Friday, Jason Coppel KC, for the claimants, said the order was made under an emergency process meant for banning the sale and supply of medications “with immediate effect to avoid serious danger to health.”

He said Ms. Atkins had “acted on the basis of her personal views about the conclusions of the Cass Review” and said the review did not identify puberty blockers as a danger to patient health.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins speaks to the media outside BBC Broadcasting House in London on June 2, 2024. Lucy North/PA Wire

In written submissions, Mr. Coppel said the former minister “proceeded without taking clinical or other scientific advice on those views and overruled officials who had wanted wider consultation and had warned her of serious impacts, including self-harm and suicide, on highly vulnerable children and young persons who had already embarked upon treatment.”

Julian Milford KC, for defendants DHSC and Minister for Health for Northern Ireland, said Ms. Atkins “was fully entitled to adopt a precautionary approach in matters concerning the health of vulnerable children.”

He also said Ms. Atkins “was fully entitled to conclude that there was a ‘serious danger to health’ and that the use of the emergency power … was justified.”

The barrister said in written submissions that the now shadow health secretary gave her conclusion after a “complex assessment, involving the application of clinical judgment, with which the court should be slow to intervene.”

Mr. Milford also told the court that having a wider consultation on the decision risked “undermining” the order itself.

He said: “If young people had been aware that the government was consulting on as yet unimplemented restrictions on the prescription of puberty blockers, it would have encouraged them to accelerate the commencement of their treatment in order to obtain prescriptions before the emergency restrictions took effect.”

Justice Beverley Lang is expected to issue a decision in writing at a later date.

PA Media contributed to this report.