NHS trusts and police forces face fines if they ignore law on single-sex spaces

Posted: 28th August 2025

The UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has issued formal warnings to multiple NHS trusts and police forces – among 19 public-sector organisations – that remain non-compliant with the law concerning single-sex spaces. The warning follows a UK Supreme Court decision clarifying that under the Equality Act 2010, terms like “woman” and “sex” refer to biological definitions, not gender identity (The Times / The Guardian). The flagged organisations apparently continue operating policies that imply an automatic right to single-sex spaces based on self-identification, which the EHRC deems unlawful (The Times). They have been instructed to withdraw or rewrite these policies – or face uncapped fines. This enforcement follows a broader review prompted in 2024 by then-Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch, which uncovered over 400 potentially problematic policies across various sectors (The Times).

Source: The Telegraph

Categories: News

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