A Telegraph report has suggested that the government privately knows that abusive conversion therapy aimed at LGBT identifying people is extremely rare, despite pushing ahead with a controversial ban.
As evidence, The Telegraph points to a Cabinet Office tender for a hotline to report cases of abusive conversion therapy. The original tender, issued four years ago, indicated that potential operators would need to field as many as 15,000 calls a year.
While the government has declined to publish the actual number of calls received by the hotline, this summer a new tender was released stating that the hotline operator should expect 300-2,000 calls per year – potentially meaning less than one call a day.
Earlier this year a Freedom of Information request by The Christian Institute revealed that a similar hotline established by the Scottish government received just one call per month in the final quarter of 2025 – possibly from the same person. Figures for the rest of the year were not available.
Critics have questioned if the helplines are an effective use of taxpayer funds. The latest government tender is for £160,000 over two years. If the hotline received 2,000 calls a year that would represent a cost of £40 per call. Using the lowest estimate, the figure would be £267 per call.
The Christian Institute said that if the Scottish figures it obtained were representative of the whole year, each call to the Scottish helpline would have cost taxpayers £4,500.
Bans on conversion therapy are currently being considered in Westminster and Northern Ireland.
The Scottish government has indicated it also wishes to ban conversion therapy, but will do so via Westminster in what campaigners say is an attempt to avoid judicial review.
Currently the Westminster bill is undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny, with a report due in January. Northern Ireland’s proposals are at committee stage, however, some have suggested the bill is “dead in the water” after a public consultation found overwhelming opposition to the plans.
Opponents of the plans say that abusive practices in therapy are already illegal and that the proposed laws will simply serve to criminalise parents and pastors and to restrict freedom of religion and speech.
