Badenoch’s claim UTIs are due to lack of school single-sex toilets, fact-checked

Kemi Badenoch has claimed that female pupils at an unnamed school had developed urinary tract infections (UTIs) because they did not have access to enough single-sex toilets.

The equalities minister told LBC that the public should report public bodies that fail to provide single-sex spaces or uphold policies in breach of the Equality Act – citing the potential of contracting UTIs as a concern.

Ms Badenoch did not name the school in question, where she claimed young girls “do not want to use the same toilet as the boys”.

Speaking on Wednesday, she said: “If I were to give an example of a school that had gender-neutral toilets and young girls there didn’t want to use the same toilets as boys so they weren’t going to the toilet at school and got urinary tract infections.

“This is obviously a terrible thing, but the school thought they were following guidance because they had used some policy analysis that was by an organisation that wasn’t looking at the equality law.”

She said the Government’s call for people to report institutions was not about “trying to catch people out”, but to “help people do better”.

Asked for evidence to back up her comments, her office later referenced a letter written last year by a Conservative MP, claiming gender-neutral toilets were responsible for one girl’s UTI in a secondary school in Walsall, West Midlands.

Eddie Hughes, the MP for Walsall North, wrote to the headteacher of Walsall Academy to complain about newly rebuilt toilets, with open access and shared washing facilities.

He claimed they had created “anxiety amongst pupils and parents”. He added: “Unfortunately, in the short time that these toilets have been in place, one female pupil has developed a UTI as she has not felt comfortable using these toilets.”

Is there evidence for Kemi Badenoch’s claim?

Professor Andrew Williams, a consultant community paediatrician, said Mr Hughes’s claim that a UTI was caused was possible, but questioned whether it was backed by sufficient evidence.

Read Next

“Proving it requires microbiological of urinary tract infections with this history being given,” Professor Williams told i. He called on Mr Hughes and Ms Badenoch to clarify the source of their information.

Walsall Academy responded to Mr Hughes’s accusation by saying there were still single-sex toilet blocks available, adding that more toilet options had been created off the back of student feedback.

A spokesperson for the school said: “The students said that they felt safer with the open-plan nature of the toilets, as some had experienced bullying in ‘closed’-style toilets previously.”

Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said her association was not aware of “any specific incidents of this nature”.

She told i that ministers such as Ms Badenoch “would be better served taking on board feedback” from a consultation process on gender-neutral toilets launched in 2022, “rather than criticising individual schools for decisions they have made”.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said it was unaware of any cases surrounding gender-neutral toilets causing UTIs.

The NAHT, along with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of GPs, told The Guardian none of their data backed up the equality minister’s claim.

What are the current rules for school toilets?

Government guidance requires all schools in England to provide pupils over the age of eight with separate toilets and changing facilities for each sex, meaning schools are not permitted to offer only gender-neutral facilities.

Staff and students are permitted to ignore a transitioning child’s preferred pronoun, and PE activities can be segregated by sex if there are sufficient safety concerns.

A survey carried out by YouGov earlier this year found younger respondents were more comfortable using gender-neutral toilets in public spaces in general.

Forty-eight per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds felt comfortable using gender-neutral toilets, compared to 41 per cent who did not, while half of 25 to 49-year-olds felt comfortable.

How can you contract a UTI?

According to the NHS, UTIs are usually caused by bacteria from poo entering the urinary tract. The bacteria enter through the urethra – the tube that carries urine out of the body, .

Women have a shorter urethra than men. This means bacteria are more likely to reach the bladder or kidneys and cause an infection.

According to he NHS, things that increase the risk of bacteria getting into the bladder include:

• Having sex;
• Pregnancy;
• Conditions that block the urinary tract, such as kidney stones;
• Conditions that make it difficult to fully empty the bladder – such as an  enlarged prostate in men and constipation in children;
• Urinary catheters;
• A weakened immune system;
• Not drinking enough fluids;
• Not keeping the genital area clean and dry.

The NHS urges patients not to “hold your pee in if you feel the urge to go” and to “regularly pee during the day”.

In some cases, holding in urine for too long can cause bacteria to multiply, leading to an increased chance of contracting a UTI – however, holding it in will not directly cause a UTI.

Passing urine helps to flush out the bladder and the rest of your urinary tract.

Data from the NHS shows the number of young girls contracting UTIs has gone down, with over a hundred fewer cases in 2022-23 compared to 2019-20.

For more information on the symptoms of UTIs and what to do if you think you or a family member has one, visit the NHS website here.