This new paper by Policy Exchange exposes how local councils have failed to keep pace with key changes such as the Cass Review and the Supreme Court ruling on gender identity, leaving children in care at risk from gender ideology. The report received strong cross-party support, from former Labour Education Secretary Baroness Morris and former Ofsted chief Baroness Spielman.

Vulnerable children in care were 700% more likely to be referred to the now-closed Gender Identity Development Service. These children remain at risk to transition and gender affirmative practice because councils have not put effective safeguarding measures in place, with several consulting activist organisations on their policies.

The report reveals:

• 81 out of 129 (63%) local authorities with care responsibilities could not provide a policy on their safeguarding processes for gender questioning children in care.
• ⁠8 local authorities would allow children in care to transition without consulting any adult.
• 17 councils had been members of a Stonewall scheme in the last 48 months, whilst 12 had paid activist groups such as Mermaids and Gendered Intelligence to provide training.

The report calls for the Government to urgently publish statutory guidance to local authorities to protect gender questioning children in care.

In a foreword to the report, Nimco Ali OBE, former Independent Government Advisor for Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, says:

“This report from Policy Exchange is both timely and deeply concerning. It reveals that the state is once again failing, this time some of the most vulnerable children in its care: gender questioning children. These young people have no parents or family members to act as their advocates. Their legal guardian is the state itself, and that comes with an extraordinary responsibility to protect them from harm. Yet in too many cases, the systems meant to safeguard them have been infiltrated by individuals and organisations projecting their own ideological views about gender and identity onto children, without adequate checks, evidence-based guidance, or the presence of strong and independent safeguarding voices.”