Single-sex bathrooms are available for staff members at Bracknell Forest Council, the authority has confirmed after an ex-employee announced plans to launch a legal case against it over the introduction of some gender-neutral facilities.

Sarah Holman, 56, plans to sue her former employer over claims it’s removal of a public single-sex bathroom left her ‘needs as a female member of staff ignored’.

Mrs Holman worked as a joint venture business partner at Bracknell Forest Council for 12 years but handed in her notice in June after a period of working from home where she claimed she felt ‘more comfortable’.

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But Bracknell Forest Council has now said that single-sex facilities are available for staff members - but not the public - at the offices in Times Square.

Chief Executive Susan Halliwell said: “We can confirm there are single sex and unisex toilets available for our staff in our Time Square office.

“We have single sex toilets and an accessible toilet available on floors one to four, which are available to staff.

“Additionally, the toilets on the ground floor are unisex – there are separate unisex toilets for staff and the public.”

(Image: Bracknell Forest Council)Mrs Holman said she raised concerns over the ground floor toilets becoming unisex in February 2023, citing past experiences of being sexually assaulted and suffering a miscarriage in a bathroom.

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She said the toilets used by the public posed a ‘safeguarding risk’ and ‘ignored privacy and dignity concerns’.

The 56-year-old has now raised £6,615 in a crowdfunding effort to pay for the tribunal costs.

Mrs Holman further took an issue with Bracknell Forest Council’s Trans and Non-binary policy, which allowed for staff members to use facilities they ‘feel most comfortable using’.

In response to Bracknell Forest Council’s statement, Mrs Holman said the authority was ‘missing the whole point’, arguing that a toilet used by a transgender person is ‘no longer single sex’.

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Bracknell Forest Council’s Chief Executive said: “The council is committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and supportive work environment for all our staff.

“We take the safeguarding and wellbeing of our employees extremely seriously and have robust policies in place to promote equality and diversity across our organisation.

“We continuously review and improve our practices to ensure every employee feels valued and supported and we maintain an environment of dignity, courtesy and respect.”

The council is ‘always looking at opportunities to understand and celebrate all protected characteristics as well as educate on differences’, Mrs Halliwell continued.