Background to the review

This independent review was commissioned in February 2024 by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. The aims of the review are as follows:

• Identifying obstacles to accurate data collection and research on sex and on gender identity in public bodies and in the research system
  
• Setting out good practice guidance for how to collect data on sex and gender identity

All public bodies, as defined by the Cabinet Office, are in scope of the review. The review also considers research institutions and organisations from outside the public sector, where relevant to the aims of the review. The review is UK wide, respecting the devolved nature of areas of responsibility within the research and development landscape and the collection of relevant areas of data and statistics.

The first report concerns data and statistics. The second report examines barriers to research.

The review is led by Professor Alice Sullivan, University College London, assisted by policy analysts Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, and Dr Kathryn Webb, University of Oxford.

Approach to the review

• We carried out a review of policies, guidance, datasets and statistics, including administrative data, major flagship surveys, independent academic studies, clinical trials, polling data, and marketing exercises.
• We held over 30 stakeholder interviews with organisations ranging from government departments, regulators and other public sector organisations to fieldwork agencies and those campaigning for the rights of women and LGBT advocacy groups.
• We held an open call for submissions, which ran from 7 May to 1 July 2024. Individuals were invited to submit examples of UK data collection on sex and/or gender identity which they perceived as inadequate or flawed.
• We commissioned a legal opinion to ensure recommendations were compliant with relevant legal frameworks, such as GDPR and ECHR Article 8 rights.