
Girls STILL forced to share loos with boys despite schools facing 94 complaints
Scottish state schools were ordered to provide single sex toilets in a landmark ruling handed down by a judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh last month.
Yet The Mail on Sunday has found that many of the 32 local authorities are 'considering' the verdict before making changes.
That is despite data showing there have been 94 queries raised by youngsters and staff about gender neutral or unisex loos since 2021. SNP-run East Dunbartonshire has received the most criticism.
Last night it admitted that 51 'complaints and representations' had been made about their 'inclusive' loo provision.
However, a spokesman claimed only two official complaints were lodged with the council directly.
Scottish Conservative MSP Pam Gosal said: 'Complaints about this issue are rife. It seems some councils are taking these and recording them while others appear to be brushing them under the carpet.
'It's totally unacceptable for any girl in school to have to share facilities such as toilets and changing areas with boys.'
Public bodies across Scotland have had to re-evaluate policies on single sex facilities after last month's UK Supreme Court ruling on gender.
However, schools are under particular pressure after parents won a separate legal fight days later over single sex facilities at the new £16.6 million Earlston Primary School in Berwickshire.
Lawyer Rosie Walker of Gilson Gray, representing the parents, told the Mail that 'gender-neutral toilets' were not permitted under regulations dating back to 1967.
The case, which concerned Scottish Borders Council, has a knock on effect for all local authorities.
Judge Lady Ross, KC, said she would issue a court order to make legal obligations on state schools clear after Sean Stratford and Leigh Hurley brought the judicial review over their concerns about transgender policies at the school, where their son was a pupil.
The Mail on Sunday asked all councils what progress had been made since the Court of Session ruling on April 23.
Of the 19 which responded, only two – Glasgow and East Lothian – had changed signage in some schools.
Six councils said they already had single sex provision and the rest declared they were considering the court verdicts.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'The Education Secretary is engaging with Cosla to carefully consider the implications of the Court of Session ruling.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Teachers have the right to ask pupils to call them Mx, instead of Mr, Miss, Mrs, says Bridget Phillipson
Teachers have the right to ask pupils to call them 'Mx' instead of Mr, Mrs or Miss, Bridget Phillipson has said. The Education Secretary said teachers can 'request' that children call them by the gender-neutral honorific instead of traditional titles. Women's rights groups criticised Ms Phillipson for bringing a 'contested ideology' into classrooms and said children should only be taught the fact of biological sex. On whether teachers be referred to as Mx - a gender-neutral honorific used by people who do not identify as either male or female - Ms Phillipson said they 'can make that request'. She told LBC: 'But of course, what we'll be looking at is making sure that people are able to exercise their views on this topic too. 'This has been the subject of various legal cases as well about people's rights in terms of how they approach questions of gender identity. 'We'll consider all areas of the practical guidance that schools need and responding to the challenges that they tell us they've faced.' Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at human rights charity Sex Matters, said that schools should not being telling children that teachers can be neither male nor female and pupils 'should be taught the facts about biological sex'. She added: 'School heads and teachers urgently need joined up and sensible guidance that safeguards every child, with the wellbeing of all pupils at its heart, whether they identify as trans or not. 'What is the Education Secretary's priority? A teacher's personal sense of identity, or the education and wellbeing of children?' Ms Phillipson was also unable to say when the long-awaited transgender guidance for schools would be shared with teachers - more than a year after the election. Draft guidance published by the Tories in late 2023 urged caution when children ask to 'socially transition' to the opposite gender and said that parents should not be kept in the dark. It also forbids schools from teaching 'gender identity' views as fact. But when the Tories lost the election last year, Labour placed it under 'review', leaving schools in limbo ever since despite renewed pressure after the Supreme Court said trans women aren't legally female. On when the guidance might be released, Ms Phillipson told LBC yesterday [TUES]: 'So the last government were consulting on this at the point of the election. 'That consultation concluded, and we had to look at all of those responses. But also what happened subsequently was Dr Hilary Cass published her final review around gender questioning children. 'So I think it is important, given the sensitivity of this area, that we make sure that the guidance we publish is aligned fully with Dr Cass's recommendations. And I do think it's important we take the time to get this right... She added: 'This is an important area. This is about children's wellbeing. It's about making sure they've got the support they need and schools have got the clarity of the guidance too.' A Department for Education spokesman said: 'While teachers can make such requests, the Education Secretary was clear it's not something that they can insist on. 'Teachers and pupils should be treated with respect.'


Times
26 minutes ago
- Times
Six ways Starmer hopes to stop migrants crossing Channel — ranked
W hen Sir Keir Starmer came into office one of his first acts was to scrap the Conservative government's 'failed' Rwanda deportation scheme and pledge to bring down illegal migration by 'smashing the gangs' behind small boat crossings. But as the months have gone on the prime minister has found, like his predecessors, that tackling the small boats crisis is much easier said than done. As the numbers crossing the Channel have risen… …so have the number of initiatives designed to deter them. So with the total number of migrants who have arrived in the UK since Labour came to power at 50,000, what exactly has Labour done to try and solve the problem — and to what extent is it working?


Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Hail to the supreme leader: Third of 18 to 30-year-olds prefer the sound of authoritarianism over democracy
A third of young Britons would prefer authoritarianism over democracy in the UK, a new poll has found. Support for authoritarianism is strongest among young Reform UK voters with half preferring a leader who could make decisions quickly 'even at the cost of some democratic freedoms'. There are 'shocking levels of disillusionment' among 18 to 30-year-olds with less than half expressing support for the current democratic system, according to the survey for the Adam Smith Institute. The think tank said the findings show that many young people 'no longer believe democracy is working' and would prefer a system where leaders 'can act without checks and balances'. Researchers also warn that Labour 's plan to give the vote to 16-year-olds could backfire and 'raises serious questions about whether younger voters support the system they're being invited to join'. The nationally representative poll of 1,338 18 to 30-year-olds - dubbed the 'anxious generation' - reveals 'shocking levels of disillusionment with both political leaders and democratic institutions'. Just 48 per cent of young Britons still prefer the current democratic system to an authoritarian alternative while 20 per cent remain undecided, the survey found. Half of 18 to 30-year-olds who voted for Reform in 2024 would prefer an authoritarian system with only 33 per cent of young Reform voters preferring the current democratic system. Disillusionment amongst young people is cross-party, the poll found, with 34 per cent of young Labour voters and 39 per cent of young Tories expressing support for an authoritarian system. Among 18 to 30-year-olds, 59 per cent believe politicians are not addressing the issues that matter most to them, rising to 66 per cent among young Reform voters. And white 18 to 30-year-olds show the highest levels of disillusionment with 62 per cent expressing dissatisfaction with politicians - almost double that of Black young people. The polling shows that trust in democratic institutions 'cannot be taken for granted' as 'more and more young people are questioning whether the current system can deliver stability or opportunity', researchers said. James Cowling - managing director of campaign group Next Gen Tories, which seeks to increase the Conservative party's ties with younger voters - said Westminster 'should not be surprised' that young people are being drawn to radical solutions given the state of the country. He added: 'This new polling shows us what history and global events can tell us time and time again. 'Yet UK politicians continue to block the reforms that would genuinely improve young people's lives; unlocking housing and infrastructure supply, lowering taxes on work, and making it easier to raise a family. 'Delivering on these aspirations is the only real antidote to rising support for authoritarianism.' Emma Schubart, data and insights manager at the Adam Smith Institute, said the rise in support for authoritarianism among young people 'should ring alarm bells in Westminster'. She added: 'Young Britons are paying the price for years of economic mismanagement. And, with the prospect of starting a family or buying a home feeling increasingly out of reach, it's no wonder many feel drawn to more extreme ideas. 'As the Government moves to extend the franchise to 16-year-olds, urgent action is needed to restore faith in the system. As this data makes clear, democracy won't defend itself. If we want young people to believe in it, then we need to make it work again.'