I’ve been commenting for some time on the huge delay in the EHRC publishing it’s updated guidance on single-sex spaces. This is an issue dear to my heart and one which has been a focus of my legal practice over the past five years.
We all know why there has been a delay. This has been a highly contentious issue and it remains fraught. I don’t anticipate that this is the end of the issue by a long shot. Evidence is emerging already of continued deliberate (and actively supported) non-compliance (a certain Labour MP to name but one) and we know that captured organisations will continue to peddle incorrect information about the law and submit to internal misguided pressure to obfuscate.
The Code came into force on 5 August 2026.
You can access the updated Code here.
The Code does not impose legal obligations but it can be used in evidence in legal proceedings under the Equality Act 2010. Courts and tribunals must take into account any provisions of the Code that might be relevant, but it is not binding.
This Code is aimed at service providers, public functions and associations. By way of reminder, it does not apply to employment or education (despite persistent misinterpretation that it does) but provides useful guidance on the interpretation of the Equality Act. It is relevant for employers because it gives guidance on the provision of toilets, washing facilities and changing rooms. These areas have given rise to some contentious cases in recent years, cases which I have brought and fought. I would hope that it will give employers the courage (supported by the law) to ensure that they provide working women with necessary single-sex facilities. I know there are many people out there who agree this is the correct position but cannot speak up for fear of being labelled transphobic and unduly ostracised. How the need to protect the safety and well-fought rights and boundaries of women can be deemed transphobic is beyond me but that’s a whole separate blog in itself.
The Code takes into account the landmark decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland which is authority for the proposition that the words sex, woman and man in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. The Code has been updated to reflect the importance of this seminal case. This is the law, as it always has been. Nothing has actually changed.
