𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Left-wing councils that fail to protect single-sex spaces have been hit with a strong warning from the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) that they will face legal action. Mary-Ann Stephenson fired a shot across the bows of councils tempted to flout guidance issued in the wake of last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

She told Times Radio councils that fail to implement the EHRC’s guidance, which came into force this week, will “realise they are obliged to follow the law”.

Ms Stephenson added: “We have powers to take legal action.”

Green-led Lambeth Council last month backed a motion that blasted the code as “incoherent and self-contradictory” and “discriminatory”. It asked officers to “proceed with non-implementation should officers advise that this is a lawful option”.

Ms Stephenson warned that councils could face legal action if they reject the code, not just from the human rights body but from members of the public. She stated that those “breaking the law” and “discriminating” will be “liable to cases brought by individual members of the public who use their services”.

The guidance makes clear that single-sex facilities such as changing rooms and toilets should be organised on the basis of biological sex. The leaders of the London councils of Hackney, Haringey, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Waltham Forest have warned the Government that the new code “will feel like an attack” on trans, non-binary and intersex people.

The EHRC’s Ms Stephenson said there was “potentially a degree of performativity” in the motions passed by councils and said the organisation would take legal advice, stressing that it had “enforcement powers”.

However, she admitted that tightened finances mean the EHRC will have to prioritise where it enforces the code.

She said the EHRC’s budget had “been frozen for the last 10 years, so effectively, we faced a real-terms cut”.

The code, she added, also protected the rights of disabled people to access services, and the right not to be discriminated against on grounds of race, religion or belief.

However, Green Party leader Zack Polanski blasted the code.

He said: “I think these guidelines have been unworkable from the very beginning.”

Speaking in a London press conference, he said it looked as if “some people just don’t want [trans people] to exist in society at all, or to have a place where they can go to the toilet”.

Shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho said: “The law is perfectly clear: single-sex spaces and services must be operated on the basis of biological sex only. Yet too many organisations, including public services, are still not complying.”

She called on her Labour opposite number, Bridget Phillipson, to “get a grip and ensure all government bodies follow the law”.