West Lothian Council insist washing basins can be in communal area in schools. Parents taking legal action

[impossibletoday]

https://www.thetimes.com/article/ad5d1052-530e-4542-8d0f-dee3384d3ad1?shareToken=203c1e0f77889e1f38c9cfa7242c4a51

I hope the parents win. Why do charities fundraise to build single sex toilets in developing countries, yet feel children in developed countries don't need them?

I once asked an Oxfam worker this and he had no answer. It was as if the point had never even occurred to him.

The parents' advocate said: "Women and girls are often told that their concerns are fictional, but the reality is the things they are told never happen, do happen, time and time again."

Hear hear.

She said that each cubicle provided floor-to-ceiling privacy and the girl had been offered an alternative. “It was made quite plain to that class that they could use the staff toilets if they didn’t want to use the toilet block,” she said. “It is perfectly possible to go somewhere different.”

Do these idiots not see a safeguarding issue with mixed staff/pupil toilets?

Expecting a girl to use staff toilets at school is downright ludicrous.

Who do I write to in this case with my research and evidence to show this is discriminatory and dangerous?

The article says the girl and her family are represented by David Welsh - perhaps him/his offices?

Is it too late for that? Should it be Lady Poole?

Maybe go for both! Cover all bases!

Yes there’s no way the council/school can justify this design after seeing my report.

No Scottish council can learn from others mistakes either. See this example from the Borders.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g9v0d4v43o

The staff get single sex toilets though? Or possibly private rooms with a toilet, and hand washing/drying. The pupils though!?

I would encourage all the girls for use the staff loos..forming a long queue.

The councils defence is ludicrous as its obviously dogma.

I hope there is a protest

They can look through a 90 odd page report with real life examples of people, including children, who have been raped, assaulted, got trapped, been filmed with hidden cameras, and died in these private designs, often in very public places.

There is so much that could have been prevented with a single sex design with a door gap.

Do you have a link to your report @Keeptoiletssafe ? Always appreciate your input on various threads about this and I know how well researched your reports are.

Also, being in Scotland myself I'm conscious that if this happens in my local authority (which I'm sure it will, our whole country is mad for all this stuff) I can be armed with knowledge and research to push back.

Good luck to those parents.

They are children..no child is going to feel in any way approaching comfortable using staff toilets at school. That a teacher might even suggest it as a solution brings shame on them.

There was a recent thread that mentioned or led to an article that mentioned John Peckham, a secondary head teacher who led the charge when it came to mixed sex toilets

BBC News | EDUCATION | Head defends unisex toilets https://share.google/ZKK3WMWZ95ycoVjz1

The man even acknowledges that children will feel uncomfortable. He saw it as a plus because it'll stop them hanging around in the toilets and claimed it was student led

"Their view is that this is much better than the fear and anxiety felt by some students going into single-sex toilets where older students can do what they like without staff supervision."

I think he should have dealt with the bullies. He only thought that any sexual activity between students would be consensual! Then there's this

Mr Peckham also pointed out that two single-sex toilets - one for boys and one for girls - would need one man and one woman to supervise them, whereas the unisex facilities would only need supervision by one member of staff of either gender.

So male staff members supervising young girls that are going to the toilet. He didn't see a problem with this.

There's no mention of kids claiming to be some flavour of trans but the article was published in 2000 so it must have been on his radar.

Yes he started it and the Department for Education said no but then it crept in a few years later as an option with Building Schools for the Future programme. Most schools saw sense but sometime between 2020 and 2023 the DfE produced guidance mentioning ‘gender-neutral’ toilets. That phrase has disappeared in the 2026 guidance.

Yes agree, I can't imagine my daughter at that age asserting herself but I just want the teachers to suffer discomfort.

A few years ago at a government event in London offices, the organisers were concerned that 17 year olds who had been invited to an event were able to use non adult loos so they quickly labelled some for under 18 year olds. That was "normal" a few years ago.

I can't imagine that most teaching staff agree so it's a massive red flag that they are being forced to overlook safeguarding, and I would question what else are they being forced to ignore.

My 'tribute username' to the great Keeptoiletssafe would be 'Keeptoiletssimple', and my question to the links of West Lothian Council would be WHY?

Why change the configuration boys'/girl's/accessible plus some mixed sex provision as an add-on?

Why are you changing a configuration that works, that is popular, that is safer, that is more hygienic, for a configuration that doesn't work, may not be legal, and necessitates complicated and possibly non-compliant workarounds like children sharing toilets with adults..

Just why?

Of course, I know the answers already, but they are such unsatisfactory answers, that I'd love to just keep asking these people why?
I could even get all Classical on them and ask cui bono?
Is this expensive, disruptive, unsafe and unpopular departure from standard toilet configuration done for the benefit of a small number of people who could use the toilets designated for their sex, but choose not to? And you justify that expense how?

I am very aware of this case - the basics are that the school are using the Good Law Project interpretation of the regs, something which I think hundreds of schools will be doing.

The whole thing will have to go all the way through the courts to get resolution

Racism innit?

“men who look like me are totally trustworthy and deserve to have whatever they want. Men who don’t look like me need careful watching “

I have found more and more schools relying on this interpretation recently it’s certainly not just one or two locals or this school in the article.

I think if we were being extremely charitable, you may be able to say that this is a possible interpretation but I don’t see how it lines up with other government legislation at all which explicitly says cubicles have to be Floor ceiling doors have a sink and a basin and be soundproof

Of course that particular type of toilet has huge health and safety concerns especially in a school where sexual assault vaping drugs et cetera are even more likely than a regular toilet

I think a very valid plan of attack for institutions that are following this flawed interpretation is asking a health and safety assessment and highlighting the massive risks it must contain and how that’s not ok in a school

All it would take is a few determined parents and it's way less toxic than the task I have been landed with.

It’s very convoluted at the moment! It also has sensitive information in it of real life incidents so I haven’t published it. I need to get it in order but too much to juggle atm.