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THE cost to apply for a gender recognition certificate has been reduced to £5, the government has confirmed.
The £140 fee for how a person changes their legal gender will be reduced to single figures from today to ensure that the process is more affordable for transgender people.
The government decided against wider reforms, but Equalities Minister Liz Truss committed in September last year to making the application for a gender recognition certificate “kinder and more straightforward.”
To make the application process easier it is also set to be moved online, with further details to be announced by the government later.
Under the existing Gender Recognition Act (GRA), a transgender person must undergo a two-year waiting period, a review or appearance before a specialist panel as well as paying £140 before being able to change their gender legally.
Many LGBT campaigners believe that the current system is not fit for purpose and have called for its replacement with a simpler statutory declaration and self-identification.
Last September, the government rejected calls for people to be able to self-identify their gender and change their birth certificates without a medical diagnosis.
