The Scottish Government will “not waver” in its commitment to improving gender identity healthcare for young people despite a pause on prescribing puberty blockers for new patients, a minister has said.
Public health minister Jenni Minto delivered a statement in Holyrood on Tuesday after two health boards – NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian – said they would halt the treatment while the recommendations of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into services in England.
But Ms Minto faced criticism from opposition MSPs over the “lack of substance” amid accusations the statement was made to appease the Scottish Greens after the party announced it would hold a vote on the future of the Bute House powersharing agreement.
It comes as the Alba Party submitted a motion of no confidence in Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie after he refused to say whether he accepted the findings of the review.
In her statement, Ms Minto said the Scottish Government was taking time to consider the findings of the Cass Review and whether they were “relevant” to Scottish gender identity healthcare.
She said her statement was being used to address the families directly impacted by the pause in puberty blockers.
Addressing trans and non-binary young people, she said: “I know these last few weeks and months have been incredibly difficult with increased media attention and toxic online commentary.
“I understand how shocking, upsetting and destabilising the announcements last week, and the public conversations around them will have been for you and your families.
“I want to reassure you that the Scottish Government remains absolutely committed, not just to ensuring ongoing support is available for you, but to reforming and improving gender identity healthcare.
“This was a key part of the Bute House Agreement and we will not waver in that commitment.”
She also said it was “absolutely correct” that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian notified patients instead of the Scottish Government announcing a pause.
However, Scottish Tory deputy leader Meghan Gallacher said the statement would “offer no comfort whatsoever to families who have been failed by gender care services in Scotland”.
She criticised the Scottish Government’s handling of the issue after repeated attempts for a ministerial comment on the review was rejected last week.
Ms Gallacher added: “This Government claims that it supports young people experiencing gender distress, yet it has members of its own government who have publicly dismissed the findings of an evidence-based expert report.
“Today’s exercise in kicking the can down the road and stalling for more time, shows that the SNP are more concerned with holding together their fragile pact with the dogmatic Greens, than the healthcare of vulnerable young people.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie criticised the statement’s “lack of substance” as she accused Ms Minto of making a “sop to the Greens to keep the Bute House Agreement alive”.
She asked the public health minister to clarify whether she agreed with Patrick Harvie when he said the report wasn’t a “valid scientific document”.
Ms Minto said: “The Scottish Government welcomed the report. I have been reading it and I recognise that Dr Cass is an eminent paediatric physician.”
Asked again by Scottish Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton, Ms Minto said: “I am here to speak directly to the young children and their families who have been impacted by this decision.”