Public Bodies Face Estimated Costs of £20.6M for Cleaning and £14.2M Per Year for Building

New UK guidance requiring single-sex facilities to be used according to biological sex takes effect today, following last year's Supreme Court ruling that transgender women are not legally women under the Equality Act. Nearly 13,000 toilets and more than 5,000 changing rooms may need revamping at gyms, hospitals and leisure centres, with at least 18,000 signs needing changes, according to Freedom of Information figures. Public bodies face estimated costs of £20.6m for cleaning and £14.2m per year for building work.

The rules affect restaurants, leisure centres, hairdressers, council services and sports clubs with at least 25 members. Former home secretary Suella Braverman, now Reform UK's equalities spokeswoman, said the government had been "dragged kicking and screaming into adopting simple common sense and protecting women's-only spaces, adding that the EHRC now has "no excuse" in not enforcing the law. The guidance, described as giving "up-to-date examples of how the Equality Act applies to everyday situations, can be relied on in court.