Nicola Sturgeon not expected to raise Gender Recognition Reform ahead of meeting with Rishi Sunak

Nicola Sturgeon is not expected to raise the dispute over the Gender Recognition Reform Bill with the Prime Minister during their in-person meeting in Scotland.

The First Minister is having dinner with Rishi Sunak in the Inverness area on Thursday evening, in an event unusually organised by Downing Street.

His first visit to Scotland as Prime Minister comes with Mr Sunak set to announce the locations for Scotlands’s two freeports, expected to be at Cromarty Firth and Forth.

Just one or two officials were expected to join what was billed as "an open-ended meeting to discuss issues of mutual interest".

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet with the First Minister on Thursday.

It is understood the dinner was instigated by Number 10, in a sign of Mr Sunak's radically different approach from his predecessor Liz Truss, who famously dismissed Ms Sturgeon as an attention-seeker who was best ignored.

The First Minister was expected to raise the UK Government's planned anti-strike legislation, NHS pressures and the cost-of-living crisis.

A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon told journalists the constitution may also come up.

However, the spokesman said the First Minister was not planning to raise the row over new gender recognition legislation in Scotland, which UK ministers have threatened to block.

He added: "Any attempt to undermine the democratic will of the Scottish Parliament will be vigorously contested."

The UK Government’s relationship with Ms Sturgeon’s administration in Scotland has been strained following threats from Westminster to block Holyrood’s gender recognition laws.

MSPs last month passed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill by 86 votes to 39, approving reforms which would allow trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC) without the need for a medical diagnosis.

The Bill will also allow 16 and 17-year-olds to apply for a GRC for the first time, and would reduce the amount of time a person has to live in their acquired gender before they can be granted the document.

Despite this, there has been fierce criticism from Downing Street, though they insist no decision has yet been made on whether to invoke section 35 of the Scotland Act, which would block royal assent of the legislation.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the move was still being looked at ahead of a deadline next week, adding: “There is a process to consider it and then he will be given advice to make a decision, that’s still taking place.”

Elsewhere, two sites have been awarded freeports, gaining the job-creating special status with tax breaks.

The winners are expected to be announced as Forth Ports’ Firth of Forth bid, which covers Leith, Rosyth, Grangemouth and Edinburgh Airport, and the Cromarty Firth bid in the Highlands.

Green Freeports are a joint initiative by the UK and Scottish governments, offering businesses big tax and customs incentives in return for their investment, but also requiring them to meet agreed environmental and employment standards.

Criteria were said to include high-quality employment, plans to attract companies, a move towards net-zero emissions by 2045 and how quickly the sites could be up and running.

The Forth Ports bid claimed it could generate 50,000 new green jobs and unlock £6 billion of investment as part of its aim to "re-industrialise" Scotland by acting as a catalyst for new green technologies and renewable energy manufacturing.

An announcement was originally expected last summer, but was delayed after Boris Johnson resigned as prime minister, quickly followed by his successor, Ms Truss.

It means the joint bid from Aberdeen and Peterhead has failed.