Guidance issued by a Scottish watchdog says that girls in care should share bedrooms with boys who think they are transgender.

The Care Inspectorate says transgender children in care ‘should not be made to use the toilet or bedroom of their sex assigned at birth’. 

The say that trans youngsters should be able to ‘share a room with other young people who share their gender identity’. 

The Mail Online reports: Astonishingly, it also states there is ‘no law in Scotland’ that protects single-sex spaces.

Scottish Conservative equalities spokesman Tess White said: ‘It’s frankly ludicrous that Scotland’s care watchdog doesn’t recognise there are legal obligations to provide single-sex spaces.’

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at human rights charity Sex Matters, called the guidance ‘a terrifying failure of the state’s duty to protect some of Scotland’s most vulnerable young people’.

She added: ‘This policy is grossly negligent, putting young people who deserve so much better at significant risk.’

Research from the University of Stirling in 2019 showed that in Scotland, the majority of children who have been removed from their parents have endured maltreatment or neglect.

According to the Cass Review published last year, there is a high presentation of children who have had adverse childhood experiences and those who are ‘looked after’ among the transgender population.

In light of those findings, the Care Inspectorate published updated guidance for care workers and accommodation providers in May 2024. 

It said it supports schools guidance issued by the Scottish Government which states that a transgender youngster should not be made to use the toilet or bedroom of their biological sex.

It states that ‘if a transgender young person wants to share a room with other young people who share their gender identity, they should be able to do so as long as the rights of, and risks to, all those involved are considered and respected’.

In a move which critics believe displays a chilling lack of understanding of equalities legislation, it goes on to say: ‘The provision of gendered facilities such as toilets is social convention. There is no law in Scotland about this.’