Another Scottish School single sex toilets case has been won.

[GargoylesofBeelzebub]

https://x.com/legalfeminist/status/2062501220330209385?s=46&t=AjtjSItRj-kgZwRzL-pdyQ

good that it’s clear that washbasins must be within the stall and cannot be communal mixed sex.

Came here to shout about this!!

https://x.com/michaelpforan/status/2062504054152909043?s=46&t=g4f4OpnFicmAG8bL67Pb_w

Great news!

That poor wee girl, not drinking during the school day so she wouldn't have to use the loos.

That's good news. School toilets are bad enough without making them mixed sex too.

And I like this bit - relevant to all those MPs moaning on about EHRC guidance not saying what they want it to say because the law isn't what they want the law to be:

[21] Nevertheless, the answer to the Council’s submissions is that guidance is not law. The Council has its own duties and powers conferred on it by legislation. The Council is obliged to obey the law, not guidance if that deviates from the requirements of the law. Whether the Council exercised powers and duties delegated to it by Parliament lawfully in relation to sanitary accommodation in a school for which it is responsible is a matter properly subject to the court’s supervisory jurisdiction.

At paragraph 21 of the judgment it says:

"The Council is obliged to obey the law, not guidance if that deviates from the requirements of the law."

Quite.

That's good news, now by rights there should be a knock on effect and all the schools in Scotland should fall into line because of this verdict. It's the law for one it's the law for all.

My research started with schools, because of the problems they were having. Very pleased to hear this from Scotland. Enclosing children in private, mixed sex toilet cubicles is not acceptable.

You would think so but there seems to be a lot of resistance to complying with the law.

Do these regulations apply in Northern Ireland, doe anyone know? (I mean the specific toilet ones).

I'm just thinking about my kids primary school, the standard configuration was two toilets and a wash basin at the entrance to every classroom. One toilet was boys, one was girls, they were in the same small space with gaps at the top and bottom of the doors like in single sex spaces. They were built like that in the 1960s, it's a very common design here, and are still like that now, but they don't sound like they'd meet the standards.

Northern Ireland will have its own rules. It’s a bit of a nightmare with devolution. Schools were exempt from the 1992 health and safety at work legislation and I have seen all sorts of weird and wacky designs.

Thanks, I strongly suspect no-one will know what they actually are, knowing this place!

Good to read that the Judge emphasises the Law over Guidance. The decision refers back to a 1967 Act which I have not seen mentioned before.
Does this Decision apply in England and Wales? I was thinking of the Brighton Case.

Good that's it's not just about the schools regs as well, but was found to be indirect discrimination (I think?) Makes it more widely applicable

Poor girls.

Not sure, but isn't 11 years the age after which thing have to be sex segregated in schools?
Shared handwashing for primary school children under 11 is probably OK.
That's just half-remembered from past reading, hopefully somebody can confirm or deny.

Great ruling, and great heading: 'The Opinion of Lady Poole'
I'm looking forward to reading it in full
2026csoh52-petition-of-de-and-fg-against-west-lothian-council.pdf

In schools seperate sex toilets are required for over 8s but for changing rooms it's over 11

From the summary of the case I've read, the council clearly doesn't give a toss about girls.

The judge found that there was indirect discrimination against girls:
"Lady Poole found that the school’s toilet provision is indirectly discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010, and placed girls at a disadvantage.
She wrote: “The particular disadvantage is a combination of the additional issues for girls relating to contamination of hands due to their anatomy and physiology, and the general vulnerability of girls having to perform intimate activities in communal areas."

She also found that the school had breached the School Premises (Scotland) Regs 1967 by 1) not providing full single sex toilet provision including both toilets and basins, and 2) not providing sufficient urinals.

Despite all that, the Council has said: “West Lothian Council has received the court’s opinion and will now consider its options.
“In the meantime, the council remains committed to ensuring the highest standard of care for the children and young people attending its schools.”

Well, it fought this case despite a similar case having been lost by another Scottish school some time ago. And apparently the Judge's decision is just "the court's opinion".

This is common. The vast majority of teenage girls I see with urinary problems are not drinking in the day to avoid needing to use the toilets. It appears to be more common in (though not exclusive to) schools with mixed toilets.

These ones would be used by kids up to 11, so sounds like they might not be up to standard.

Excellent news, thanks OP!

WestLothian council submitted in their defence that girls had special segregated 'period' toilets.

I should be shocked, right?

image

OMG, do they make them sit in special chairs at the back of the class as well. FFS

There’s a serious safeguarding risk with these floor-to-ceiling designs.

If you work in schools long enough, you probably get to see a child have a seizure or hypo. I did.

During my research, I have had a lot of parents tell me they are really worried that their child will collapse in these new toilet designs and no will would know. Parents of children with epilepsy, diabetes, allergies and endometriosis. In this school, and many others, there are no toilets that are suitable for children with medical conditions that mean they can collapse without warning.

When I asked the Department for Education (for England) if there had been a risk assessment or an equality impact assessment for their guidance on toilets having a 5mm floor-door gap, they said they didn’t hold that information and could not tell me who did. I later asked how many children had died or been sexually assaulted in school toilets. They said they couldn’t answer my FOI request as it would take too many hours to find out if they could even get that information.

I have collated incidents which I have told them about. The designs need to change. There is various legislation about safeguarding particularly around children with disabilities (which includes non-ambulant ones) and medical conditions.

Schools have defibrillators. They have toilets that open from the outside easily to get to a child who has collapsed. But this school, and many more, don’t have the ability to know if a child has collapsed.

Schoolsweek said up to 25% of secondary schools are going to have to refurbish/alter their toilets due to being mixed sex. These designs are a massive experiment that’s gone wrong and the Department for Education has allowed it. For schools refurbishing their toilets to make them single sex, the Department of Education need to make sure they do not keep promoting a floor-to-ceiling design.

So an 8 year old girl was self excluding from the toilets.

Is an 8 year old girl, in law or otherwise, doing this because she's transphobic or because she already is uncomfortable and has issues about her privacy and dignity around boys?

This 8 year old girl is invisible to the powers that decide what is transphobia and screech about being kind.

Also noting this is all post Supreme Court ruling too, so there really aren't any excuses.

Fucking hell!

You would think at some point someone would say "hang on, we are ending up with special period toilets? This can't be the right path we are on here"

It's like the old lady who swallowed the fly, then the spider, then the mouse...