Scotland sets GRC police notifications from Feb 2026

From 21 February 2026, people in Scotland who are already subject to the Sex Offenders Register must tell the police if they apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC) or if they are issued a full GRC. The change is made by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Notification Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025, recorded on legislation.gov.uk as S.S.I. 2025/396 and made on 9 December 2025. The Scottish Parliament approved the draft ahead of that date.

Who is affected? If you are a “relevant offender” under Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (commonly, someone convicted or cautioned for a listed sexual offence and therefore subject to notification requirements), you already have to register details and keep them up to date. Failing to comply is a criminal offence that can carry up to five years’ imprisonment, according to Home Office guidance.

What exactly must be told to the police? The regulations add two clear duties. First, if you make an application for a GRC and it has not yet been decided, you must notify that application. Second, if you obtain a full GRC issued on or after the relevant date, you must notify that too. If an interim GRC has been issued, the law treats the application as not yet determined, so the duty to notify the pending application remains.

Initial notification versus changes later on matters. When someone first registers with the police under section 83 of the 2003 Act, any applicable GRC information now forms part of that first set of details. If the GRC application is made, or a full GRC is issued, after that first registration, it must be notified as a change under section 84. In practice, changes under the regime are generally required within three days.

Let’s decode two terms the regulations lean on. The “relevant date” mostly means the date you were convicted, found to have committed the offence, or cautioned. That’s the point from which your notification period starts under section 82 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Knowing this helps you work out whether a full GRC was issued “on or after” that date and therefore must be notified.

Now the GRC terms. A “gender recognition certificate” can be either a full certificate or an interim certificate. The Gender Recognition Act 2004 defines these, with a full GRC confirming legal recognition in the acquired gender and an interim GRC issued in particular circumstances set out in the Act. The new Scottish regulations use those definitions directly, so you’re working with the same legal meanings.

There’s also a tidy‑up in the 2007 Scottish regulations. Headings for regulation 3 and regulation 4 now say “prescribed financial” information and events, and a reference to section 84(1)(g) is broadened to section 84(1). New regulation 3A and regulation 4A then handle the GRC‑specific notifications. This makes the identity‑related and money‑related parts easier to distinguish in law.

What does this mean for you as a learner or practitioner? It doesn’t change who goes on the register. It adds transparency around legal identity documents for those already on it, so police have the latest information they are lawfully entitled to hold for managing risk. Equality law and protections for trans people remain governed by separate legislation; this update is about notification duties inside the existing sex offender regime.

If you’re studying or advising, a simple way to remember the rule is: tell the police at the start if an application is pending or a full GRC has been issued on or after the relevant date; and tell them later if either event happens after you first registered. When in doubt, check the legislation.gov.uk entry for the 2025 Amendment Regulations and the 2007 Scottish regulations they modify.