Facilities face race to prepare for UK single sex space rules

The EHRC’s updated code of practice will impact thousands of toilets, changing rooms and single sex facilities across the country when it comes into effect on 5 August.

The changes to the code came in response to a Supreme Court ruling in the For Women Scotland case in April 2025, which decided that under the Equality Act 2010, the terms "sex", "man", and "woman" strictly refer to biological, rather than certificated, sex.

The approval means use of a single-sex space, such as hospital wards, refuges and bathroom facilities must be based on a person’s birth sex rather than their gender identity.

Francis Keepfer, an equality law expert with Pinsent Masons, said the confirmation of the code would leave those who had not yet prepared for the change facing a rush to be compliant in time.

“Service providers can be reassured that any planning they have been undertaking since last April, when the Supreme Court handed down its decision in the For Women Scotland case, will still be relevant and valid,” he explained.

“However, for those service providers who have not yet started to think about how the Code may affect them, the facilities they provide, and how service users access those facilities, this announcement brings the Code and its requirements back into sharp focus - particularly at a time when the political lens has been elsewhere.”

“The deadline of 5 August gives service providers a relatively short window to prepare themselves,” he said. “They need to be thinking about this now, as any service provider who is not compliant with the law - and the Code, which is designed to help duty bearers to understand and comply with the law - could face the risk of a legal challenge.”

The revised code, for services, public functions and associations, can be used as evidence in legal proceedings under the Equality Act and is likely to provide a guide to the EHRC’s view of employment issues in the future.

166 MPs signed a motion to reject the draft code after it was revealed, as it would leave trans people unable to use the facilities matching their gender, but following a 40 day scrutiny period it will now be brought into law from August.