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To ask the Scottish Government whether it will review public sector guidance on single-sex spaces, in light of reported concerns about the Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Prison Service. (S6T-02422)

The cabinet secretary may be interested to know that the Care Inspectorate’s “Guidance for children and young people’s services on the inclusion of transgender including non-binary young people” makes the following statement:

“The provision of gendered facilities such as toilets is social convention. There is no law in Scotland about this.”

Does the Scottish Government agree with the Care Inspectorate’s statement?

I welcome Audrey Nicoll’s members’ business debate to celebrate international women’s day 2025. The day is an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements, and I would like to highlight the work of some truly fantastic women in the north-east who do so much to support their communities.

Jennifer Garnes is the headteacher of Strathmore primary school in Forfar. She cares passionately about creating adaptive environments to provide equal opportunities for all learners. Her work resulted in the school becoming the first in Scotland to be awarded an ADHD friendly school award.

Mary Geaney is the chief executive officer of Rossie Young People’s Trust in Montrose. She leads a team of 185 staff to deliver trauma-informed care, education, health and specialist psychological services for young people with multiple and complex needs in secure care.

Helen Reid from Laurencekirk was my local hero for the Scottish Parliament’s 25th anniversary celebration. She makes such a positive contribution to improving her local area by holding fundraising events and coffee mornings to provide Christmas lights and summer hanging baskets.

Jill Fotheringham, a local businesswoman, has been campaigning for many years to improve the treacherous Laurencekirk junction, which has caused too many deaths, collisions and near misses. Her unwavering commitment to the campaign has, at all times, kept the pressure on Transport Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council to get shovels in the ground.

Other women, such as Angela Taylor from the Angus Pylon Action Group and June Morrison from the Leylodge against industrialisation group, are leading the charge against the megapylon plans that will puncture the beautiful countryside of the north-east and decimate communities.

Those special and brilliant women, and many more besides, have made such a difference to their communities, personally and professionally, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to pay tribute to them today.

As the motion highlights, this year’s IWD theme is accelerate action, to address with renewed urgency the barriers that many women face. I will focus the remainder of my remarks on two of those barriers—the crippling cost of childcare and difficulties accessing diagnosis and treatment for medical conditions such as cervical cancer and endometriosis.

After working in human resources for more than 30 years, I know how vital accessible childcare is for women as they return to work after maternity leave. There are two issues with childcare in Scotland—cost and availability. Both have been highlighted in a petition to the Parliament that was lodged by Aberdeenshire mum Julie Fraser. She is calling for funded hours to be introduced in Scotland when a baby is nine months old. That has already been rolled out in England. Women who want to work are being priced out of the workforce because of sky-high nursery fees. Funded hours from when a baby is nine months old would be a game changer for many working parents.

On women’s health, no woman should have to ensure sleepless nights because of delays to diagnosis and treatment. Conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome can have a massive impact on a woman’s physical and mental wellbeing, but it can take years to secure a diagnosis. The Dundee endo warriors have been doing brilliant work to shine a light on women’s health inequalities.

Women across Scotland are making such a difference every day. It is our duty to come together and knock down the barriers that are holding them back.

If I had been allowed to intervene on the cabinet secretary or the minister, I would have asked them about the millions of pounds that the Scottish Government has given to activist groups that are providing guidance, which is being interpreted as law. That is extremely worrying. As we have heard in the debate, the minister can read out a speech, but she probably does not engage with the substance, as Mr Ewing has pointed out.

As Rachael Hamilton said, John Swinney recognises that the law is on the side of women, but the problem is that his SNP Government refuses to enforce it. Lest we forget it, the SNP Government has been arguing in the UK’s highest court that men can get pregnant and become lesbians; John Swinney confirmed at the end of February that he accepts that trans women are women; and he does not regret supporting the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was—thankfully—blocked by the previous Conservative UK Government.

We cannot have a women-only space and let biological men have access to that space. That is common sense. The SNP does not believe that women are adult human females, and it has taken a sledgehammer to the rights and spaces that are afforded to biological women and girls as a result.

In kowtowing to activist organisations such as Stonewall, the SNP Government has allowed self-ID to creep into Scotland’s public sector for years. As I mentioned, the law is being skewed by lobby groups that are being funded by the SNP Government. Faulty guidance is becoming policy, with disastrous consequences, as a result of Nicola Sturgeon’s self-ID obsession. She leaves a dangerous and divisive legacy when she stands down in 2026. As Russell Findlay said, women will not forget that she trashed their rights. The NHS, schools, councils, the Prison Service and the police all jumped on the so-called inclusion bandwagon at the behest of Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP Government. Labour did nothing.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policies in our public bodies have become exclusionary for women. That is why we need leadership and clarity from the SNP Government, and it is why the Scottish Conservatives are calling on John Swinney to issue a directive requiring public sector bodies to provide single-sex spaces for biological women and girls, in line with their legal obligations. It is high time that, after eroding our rights and relegating our needs for years, the SNP put women and girls first.

I say to Audrey Nicoll and Evelyn Tweed that language matters. Gender is a construct; sex is down to biology.

It is no wonder that trust in the Scottish Government has been so badly corroded. The SNP has made an absolute mess of this. Its amendment to the motion says:

“the Scottish Government fully upholds the Equality Act 2010”.

Senior SNP politicians have made similar statements, but the sleekit SNP is at it again. John Swinney is trying and failing to ride two horses on sex and self-ID.

John Swinney thinks that the legal position on single-sex spaces is “crystal clear”, but the SNP’s position is as clear as mud. Week after week, the Scottish Conservatives have been trying to get answers out of the SNP on what on earth is happening with women-only spaces in Scotland’s public bodies. Our requests for ministerial statements were knocked back. Our questions were swerved—

I welcome Audrey Nicoll’s members’ business debate to celebrate international women’s day 2025. The day is an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements, and I would like to highlight the work of some truly fantastic women in the north-east who do so much to support their communities.

Jennifer Garnes is the headteacher of Strathmore primary school in Forfar. She cares passionately about creating adaptive environments to provide equal opportunities for all learners. Her work resulted in the school becoming the first in Scotland to be awarded an ADHD friendly school award.

Mary Geaney is the chief executive officer of Rossie Young People’s Trust in Montrose. She leads a team of 185 staff to deliver trauma-informed care, education, health and specialist psychological services for young people with multiple and complex needs in secure care.

Helen Reid from Laurencekirk was my local hero for the Scottish Parliament’s 25th anniversary celebration. She makes such a positive contribution to improving her local area by holding fundraising events and coffee mornings to provide Christmas lights and summer hanging baskets.

Jill Fotheringham, a local businesswoman, has been campaigning for many years to improve the treacherous Laurencekirk junction, which has caused too many deaths, collisions and near misses. Her unwavering commitment to the campaign has, at all times, kept the pressure on Transport Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council to get shovels in the ground.

Other women, such as Angela Taylor from the Angus Pylon Action Group and June Morrison from the Leylodge against industrialisation group, are leading the charge against the megapylon plans that will puncture the beautiful countryside of the north-east and decimate communities.

Those special and brilliant women, and many more besides, have made such a difference to their communities, personally and professionally, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to pay tribute to them today.

As the motion highlights, this year’s IWD theme is accelerate action, to address with renewed urgency the barriers that many women face. I will focus the remainder of my remarks on two of those barriers—the crippling cost of childcare and difficulties accessing diagnosis and treatment for medical conditions such as cervical cancer and endometriosis.

After working in human resources for more than 30 years, I know how vital accessible childcare is for women as they return to work after maternity leave. There are two issues with childcare in Scotland—cost and availability. Both have been highlighted in a petition to the Parliament that was lodged by Aberdeenshire mum Julie Fraser. She is calling for funded hours to be introduced in Scotland when a baby is nine months old. That has already been rolled out in England. Women who want to work are being priced out of the workforce because of sky-high nursery fees. Funded hours from when a baby is nine months old would be a game changer for many working parents.

On women’s health, no woman should have to endure sleepless nights because of delays to diagnosis and treatment. Conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome can have a massive impact on a woman’s physical and mental wellbeing, but it can take years to secure a diagnosis. The Dundee endo warriors have been doing brilliant work to shine a light on women’s health inequalities.

Women across Scotland are making such a difference every day. It is our duty to come together and knock down the barriers that are holding them back.

Will the minister take an intervention?

If I have time, I will take an intervention at the end.

As Roz McCall and Rachael Hamilton mentioned, research from For Women Scotland shows that, in 2024, only 13 of the 243 secondary schools in Scotland provided single-sex toilets.

What have we seen today? It is absolutely no surprise that neither of the Government ministers took any interventions from either Labour or the Scottish Conservatives—or, in fact, from their own back benchers, which is telling. They refused. This is a Government that will not tolerate scrutiny unless it is on the Government’s own terms.

I say to Lorna Slater that there is no way that she can equate someone’s bathroom at home with a toilet facility in the NHS—that is absolutely absurd.

Lorna Slater was the only person to use the word “hate”. I am glad that Paul O’Kane brought the debate back. He talked about the need for facts, the balance of rights and the importance of dignity and respect in debate. Maggie Chapman was true to form, with emotion trumping logic and fact. Once again, she used the term “cis”, which so many women, including me, find offensive. Why does the word “woman” need to be qualified?

I also noticed that, until now, the Labour benches were almost empty. I know that members are looking at me and looking down, but it is unsurprising given Labour’s botched U-turn on women’s rights. Mercedes Villalba, you did a brilliant job for your colleagues who were absent by making all your interventions—

We have had enough!