By Claire Elliot,Editor

Copyright dailymail

All schools north of the Border have been told they must have single-sex toilets following a major Scottish Government U-turn.

But campaigners said the SNP’s new 64-page guidance is ‘muddled’ and may still be in breach of the Supreme Court ruling that sparked the change.

And For Women Scotland (FWS), who launched legal action to force the SNP government to follow the ruling, warned that they will now go back to court to get men out of women’s jails.

Susan Smith, of FWS, welcomed the change to guidance for schools but said it was ‘imperative’ that ministers now ‘look at the men who are in women’s prisons’ and ‘quash those Scottish Prison Service policies which are not consistent either.’

Five months after the Supreme Court ruling, government guidance published yesterday states that facilities must be made available on the basis of biological sex.

But some campaigners branded the 64-page document ‘muddled’, ‘ideological’ and ‘potentially damaging’ to youngsters as it continues to recommend to headteachers that they also consider providing a gender neutral option..

Schools were previously told that pupils could use whatever toilets they felt most comfortable in and that there was no law in Scotland that meant people had to use toilets and changing rooms based on their biological sex.

But the SNP government is still insisting that schools may ‘consider’ also having gender neutral toilets as it continues to outline the need for ‘a whole-school approach to supporting transgender young people and creating a transgender- inclusive environment’.

It also states that ‘transgender identities should be included alongside other identities in classroom/school displays’ to ‘ensure transgender young people feel respected and included’.

It warns against the risk of ‘outing’ a young person as trans and urges schools to support young people if a pupil has not disclosed that they are transgender to their family.

The guidance also states that if a pupil who identifies as the opposite sex changes school ‘their previous name does not need to be shared with the new school’ and that ‘it is not necessary for all staff in a receiving school to know that the young person is transgender’.

Maya Forstater, CEO of Sex Matters welcomed the fact the Scottish Government new guidance states that school toilets provided for boys and girls relate to the two sexes. But she said: ‘The suggestion that schools can change their toilets to “gender neutral” goes against school building regulations requiring half of all toilet facilities to be for boys (with urinals), and half for girls.

‘This guidance may be an improvement on what went before, but it is still unlawful and unnecessarily complex.’

Susan Smith said: ‘It’s ironic that a mere ten days ago the Scottish government lodged paperwork with the Court of Session claiming their school guidance was lawful. So, it is a significant turnaround.

‘However, we are concerned that there is more work to do and will take some time to look at the rest of the guidance relating to sports and residential trips to be sure the Scottish Government has fully accepted the implications of the Supreme Court ruling. Now, it’s imperative they look at the men who are in women’s prisons and quash those Scottish Prison Service policies which are not consistent with the ruling either.’

Scottish Tory shadow children and young people minister Roz McCall said: ‘Instead of enforcing the law, the SNP have confused matters further by producing this contradictory and potentially harmful guidance that will make things more difficult for schools.’

In 2024/25, the Scottish Prison Service said there were 16 trans people in jail but did not say how many were trans indentifying males in the female estate. In 2023, there were 12 such inmates.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: ‘The Scottish Government has made clear it accepts the Supreme Court ruling and since April has been taking forward the detailed work that is necessary as a consequence of the ruling.’