Tens of millions of pounds are to be spent revamping nearly 13,000 toilets and around 5,000 changing rooms across Britain to comply with new guidance on single-sex spaces. The guidance, drawn up by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, requires services to be provided on the basis of biological sex rather than self-identified gender, and its 40-day parliamentary scrutiny period has now ended without rejection, meaning it will come into force within days. It matters because it will oblige gyms, hospitals, town halls and leisure centres to alter facilities and signage to determine which spaces transgender people may use.

The guidance follows a landmark Supreme Court judgment in April last year, which ruled that the definition of a woman under the Equality Act is based on biology rather than gender identity, and it applies across England, Scotland and Wales. New figures indicate that 12,895 toilets, 5,526 changing rooms and 18,422 signs will be affected. A financial impact assessment put the total ten-year cost at £703million, broken down as £20.6million for the public sector, £21million for the voluntary sector and £188.6million for the private sector, with the remainder covering staff training and related organisational costs.