Ards North Down cllr faced "Inflammatory accusations" over leisure centre trans policy

Officials at a Northern Ireland local authority have apologised to councillors after a 'policy' document covering access to leisure centres for transgender people was not voted on.

And the document has sparked online abuse with one DUP councillor saying "some of the accusations hurled at members of this committee were vile". Last month admissions policy for leisure in Ards and North Down Borough became the centre of a war of words between Lagan Valley TUV party member Lorna Smyth and DUP elected council representatives.

A document from the Ards and North Down Borough Council website 'Leisure Ards and North Down: Admissions Policy for Ards Blair Mayne Wellbeing and Leisure Complex, Comber Leisure Centre, Londonderry Park, and Portaferry Sports Centre' was widely circulated last year on social media, including by Lorna Smyth, before being taken down from the website as the controversy exploded.

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Section four of the document, 'Access for Transgender Persons' devoted a page and 11 bullet points to services for transgender persons. The document states: “Transgender persons are welcome at council services and are encouraged to get as involved as other members of the public. If there are particular concerns that a transgender person may have access to any services, facilities or activities, the person should contact management for information or guidance.

“Transgender persons are welcome to use either appropriate single-sex toilets and changing facilities, or separate accessible toilets and changing facilities as determined by an individual’s needs and at the discretion of management.

“There is no requirement for a Gender Recognition Certificate for access to single-sex toilets, changing facilities or activities, and a GRC will not be requested.”

Ards and North Down Borough councillors, led by the DUP, in December said they had not seen this document, and had at no stage been asked to vote on it. The lack of a vote on the document was confirmed by council officers.

At the start of this month councillors at a committee meeting received an apology from council officials on the document being used without a vote. Councillors agreed to a DUP proposal for an investigation into why the leisure admissions policy document went ahead without their approval. Councillors also asked for a full list of council policies, and whether they had been approved by elected representatives.

Councillors also asked for a “framework to ensure policy development is carried out in accordance with the council’s scheme of delegation to avoid any future repeat of what happened”.

Despite councillors keeping themselves at a distance from the leisure document in question, which has been dropped entirely, abuse has been directed towards elected representatives from the council from numerous sources, particularly towards DUP members.

TUV party member Lorna Smyth said in a post on her Facebook account in December: “The general claim appears to be that councillors have not seen this policy and it has been implemented without their knowledge. I for one question this narrative.

“The document these councillors are suddenly up in arms about was the policy which was updated in January 2024. The very same clauses in the January 2024 document exist in the admissions policy from August 2022. Surely our local elected councillors would have oversight of this document in the last two and a half years, and if not why not?

“Why did it take social media interest to get these elected representatives to spring to action, and can they explain why this document has remained unchanged since at least 2022, if not before, without anyone raising concerns that a man who wants to identify as a woman can enter female-only facilities without challenge?”

At the January meeting of the council’s Community and Wellbeing Committee, council officers published their explanation for the leisure document not being voted upon.

A report on the matter states: “Council Leisure facility admissions rules and guidance have been in place from when Ards Leisure Centre at William Street was in operation. At that time, the document was not described as a policy, but a collection of operational procedures.

"Originally each leisure centre had individual admission procedures; i.e. for Ards, Portaferry and Comber. Londonderry Park Pavilion was added when this new facility opened in 2016.

“The admissions procedures largely focused on Health and Safety guidelines and rules, as well as terms and conditions of leisure centre membership and use, in order that users would have a positive experience while using the council leisure facilities.

“These procedures were amalgamated into one admissions procedure in 2018 for the opening of Ards Blair Mayne Wellbeing and Leisure Complex in early 2019. Around the same time as a result of a query, HR, Leisure and Equality together considered how access should be managed in relation to transgender persons, and the document was amended as a result.

“The document title was also changed from ‘procedures’ to ‘policy’ and so should have been subject to the policy approval process at that point. Initial investigation as to why this happened has suggested that this may have been simply overlooked by the officers involved.

“It isn’t clear why this is the case but given that the document had already been in place for a number of years, with changes carried out from time to time already over that period, it may have been a genuine oversight. What is clear is that the omission in relation to the approval of leisure access ‘policy’ was not deliberate.

“It is certain that approval should have been sought, but was not, for which all officers involved apologise. As a result of further investigation into why this didn’t happen, it appears that there may have been a breakdown in internal communications between Leisure and Equality, with Leisure believing the policy was being taken through corporately.

“This breakdown in communications may have been further exacerbated due to the challenges brought by Covid-19 and the other competing priorities. Unfortunately, as a number of staff involved at the time have since moved on, further details for the reasons for this not being done are difficult to ascertain for certain.

“The current Leisure Admissions Policy document has been withdrawn from the council’s website and will be subjected to the council’s normal policy approval process.

“For clarity, the whole Leisure Admissions Policy is to be taken through the policy approval process. This will allow for full consultation and discussion on all aspects, including equality screening, with any agreed amendments to wording being incorporated before approval is granted.”

DUP Alderman Robert Adair said at the Community and Wellbeing meeting that the abuse he received on social media on the subject of the council leisure document was the worst he had ever experienced.

At the meeting he successfully proposed the council looks to establish a central register “to show the progress of policy’s development are under review to inform staff of the standing of policy at any given time”.

He said: “It is regrettable this issue appears before us here tonight, and reading the report, I am not filled with much confidence to just accept a report by noting it. With an issue as serious as this, just to note it and take no action could leave us open to such a situation arising again.”

He added: “We are all here elected democratically by the people to make decisions on their behalf, and to speak on their behalf, but this policy was not equality screened, it did not come before the committee for scrutiny or to the council for approval. We need to ensure such a situation never arises again, and that this council never again operates on an assumption, or negates the democratic process.”

He added: “This issue first hit the headlines through social media, and many councillors around this chamber, particularly those in the Community and Wellbeing Committee, were faced with online abuse. I as an elected representative have faced online abuse over the years, but nothing as derogatory as what I faced in relation to this issue.

“Inflammatory accusations were made and attacks on my character, and on others in this committee. It was totally unacceptable. People think because you are a councillor and an elected official they can speak to you in whatever way they want, but some of the accusations hurled at members of this committee were vile.

“We should never have been put in this position. To those who were so nasty to us, I am glad we are seen to be vindicated here tonight.”

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