When safe schools alliance called for emails to ehrc about school toilet provisions a while back I emailed about our local secondary school.
They have mixed sex toilets, no door to the toilet block of four and regular doors within that block, not floor to ceiling, and washbasin outside the cubicles. This block is in the autism unit.
They also have a lgbt+ policy that encourages children to use the toilets of their preferred gender. So any toilets advertised single sex are not.
The reply I just received says:
‘Thank you for your email regarding the provision of single sex spaces in schools. We will pass your comments onto our Compliance team, who are currently considering what further information is required by the providers of single or separate sex services, as there may be some points which will be relevant to their work.
As we have previously stated, schools require wide-ranging guidance on how to support and accommodate children who are gender non-conforming or identify as a gender different to the sex recorded at birth which takes into account the full spectrum of considerations outside of equality law, including rights to privacy and safe-guarding concerns. These factors sit outside of our current work and therefore such guidance may be best produced by Government.’
I pointed out in the email that their toilet facilities breach building’s regulations act for toilets in schools, the equality act single sex exemptions, and are a safeguarding risk (much more eloquently than I can be bothered to retype here) and that I’m aware the school has already been named on everyone’s invited. Yet they seem very confused about the law here. And wtf has gender non conformity got to do with single sex spaces.
They asked for this input, although I think I read about it from ssa, and said single sex not gender iirc.
So this reply feels like candy floss.