NEW restaurants, offices and shopping centres in England will be required to provide single-sex toilets under changes to the law ministers say will “alleviate safety, privacy and dignity concerns.”

Women and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch said today that the policy would end “the rise of so-called ‘gender-neutral’ mixed sex toilet spaces, which deny privacy and dignity to both men and women.”

The legislation means that new non-domestic buildings must install separate toilet facilities for men and women or, if there is not enough space, self-contained universal toilets, which are a fully-enclosed toilet room containing a sink and hand dryer.

Ministers said a consultation on the proposals showed that 81 per cent agreed with the intention to require the provision of separate single-sex lavatories, while 82 per cent agreed with the intention to have additional universal toilets where space allows.

The regulations will also apply to businesses and hospitality venues undertaking “major refurbishment.”

The government has also announced plans to overhaul the NHS Constitution, so that hospital patients in England can ask to be treated on single-sex wards, with transgender people placed in rooms on their own.