Hundreds of public bodies are still defying the Supreme Court victory for women on the first anniversary of the landmark ruling.

The judgment specified that 'woman' in the Equality Act referred to biological sex, but a Daily Mail audit has found that NHS trusts, police forces, town halls and Whitehall departments are failing to comply.

Nearly 400 have outdated policies allowing trans-identifying biological males to use women-only spaces such as changing rooms and toilets. 

Critics said the damning findings were 'inexcusable' and showed a 'complete disregard for the law' which has inflicted 'untold harm to women and girls'.

Ministers have been sitting on guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), on how to enforce the ruling, since September. 

Many of the audited organisations claimed they were effectively in limbo due to the delay.

But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'A year after the Supreme Court's clear ruling, too many public bodies are acting as if the law is optional because Labour has failed to lead.

'The law is not optional – it must be enforced.'

Writing in today's Daily Mail, the Tories' shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho added: 'The Supreme Court ruling… was meant to put an end to this madness. Cowardice, obfuscation, and a complete lack of grip.

'That is all the Labour Party has to offer women's rights.'

Susan Smith, founder of For Women Scotland, which secured the landmark court ruling, said: 'It's shocking that public bodies are using the discredited excuse that they need to wait for guidance to follow the law.

'They don't. The ruling is crystal clear and the EHRC has stated over and again that delay is unacceptable. Government must take a strong line and insist they follow the law.' 

The UK's highest court ruled unanimously last April that sex in the Equality Act refers to biological women and men and not to self-identification or a gender recognition certificate (GRC).

It means service providers are legally required to enforce single-sex spaces based on biology. It applies to any organisation providing services to the public, including shops, gyms, government departments, the NHS, policing, prisons, hotels, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and hospitals.

But this newspaper's analysis, following a Freedom of Information audit reviewed by campaign group SEEN in Health, found a staggering 97 per cent of 190 NHS trusts in England with inpatient facilities have outdated policies allowing trans-identifying biological males to use women-only spaces such as wards, changing rooms and toilets.

Meanwhile, more than half of England's 317 town halls are failing to comply with the court ruling, which women's rights groups fear is also putting staff and the public at risk.

And more than 20 of 43 police forces in England and Wales said they were yet to update their policies, meaning transgender staff and detainees are in some instances free to use whichever facilities they like.

The Gwent force in Wales brazenly admitted flouting the law, saying: 'Our policy remains the same and we are awaiting the final EHRC guidance. Staff and officers use facilities in accordance with their lived gender.'

In Whitehall, internal civil service guidance is 'under review', meaning even government departments are using outdated rules. 

Not a single one was able to confirm its compliance, and that of the quangos it sponsors, with the Supreme Court decision.

The Mail investigation also uncovered examples where transgender women are being held in women's prisons even if they have violent convictions.

Helen Joyce, of the Sex Matters charity, said: 'The failure of public bodies to adopt policies based on biological sex has caused untold harm to women and girls. Nobody – including public bodies – needs to wait for the EHRC guidance. It's the law.'

Cathy Larkman, of the Women's Rights Network campaign group, added: 'It is inexcusable that so many public bodies are showing a complete disregard for the law.

'A year after the judgment, the excuses have run out. They don't need to wait for guidance, it's the law. What a cop-out.'

This week, equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said she aimed to finally publish the EHRC guidance next month.

Critics have accused Ms Phillipson of prioritising her 'personal ambition', as she eyes up a potential leadership challenge should Keir Starmer's position falter following the local elections.

Former EHRC boss Baroness Falkner last night revealed she had no conversations with the minister about the guidance between sending it to her at the start of September and the end of November, when the peer stepped down from the commission.

At a parliamentary event to mark the anniversary of the judgment, she said: 'You knew something was up, the fact that the minister wouldn't discuss it with you. 

'In my previous experience with two different secretaries of state and different ministers of state, including ones who completely disagreed with the direction of travel, there'd always been conversations. 

'This was a remarkable turn of events.'

Amid the delay to the EHRC's guidance being published, single-sex guidance from 2019 that has been 'under review' for several years remains the only national blueprint available to NHS trusts.

While some have 'withdrawn' their guidance since the court ruling, critics point out they have not been replaced, meaning the practice of allowing people to self-identify remains unchanged.

NHS England, which advises trusts, is yet to update its own guidance, with many trusts saying they are waiting until this happens.

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust's policy states: 'Non-binary individuals, who do not identify as being male or female, should also be asked discreetly about their preferences, and allocated to the male or female ward according to their choice.' 

Meanwhile, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust's policy states: 'Trans people should be accommodated according to their adopted identity.'

Both trusts said policies were 'currently under review' and that 'new policy is not yet in place'.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust even wrongly claimed in a newsletter from last year that the Supreme Court's ruling had been successfully challenged.

It said it was 'aware of the error and will remove the lines in a corrected version'.

NHS England said: 'We are working through the implications of the ruling, and we absolutely recognise the need for revised guidance on same-sex accommodation as soon as possible.'

Some 159 of the 317 councils in England said they were waiting for guidance before updating their policies. 

Norwich City Council's policy states that it remains committed to being 'inclusive' and 'we recommend that all staff continue to use the toilets they feel most comfortable using'.

A government spokesman said: 'We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex. 

'The Supreme Court's ruling last year brings clarity for women and service providers.'

SCHOOLS: Parents not being told their child is questioning gender

By David Churchill 

Most secondary schools still do not tell parents when their child is questioning their gender, while a quarter force pupils to adopt a transitioning classmate's preferred name and pronouns, a report has found.

The study by the Policy Exchange think-tank found less than half (43 per cent) of secondary schools reliably inform parents when a child expresses feelings about 'gender distress'. 

This is despite them having a duty to inform parents if it is in the child's best interests to do so, which critics say it almost always is.

Meanwhile, almost a quarter of secondary schools in England require other children to adopt a transitioning child's new name and pronouns.

Under current rules, children should not be obliged to participate in the social transition of other children and must be allowed to express gender-critical beliefs.

Researchers, who submitted hundreds of Freedom of Information requests to secondary schools and academies in England, also found that more than a quarter still don't maintain single-sex toilets (30 per cent) and changing rooms (27 per cent), despite last year's Supreme Court ruling on biological gender.

While the results were an improvement on a similar study carried out by the think-tank three years ago, it concluded that too many schools still placed 'ideology over evidence' when dealing with potentially transgender children.

The report calls for stronger guidance for schools. It was backed by Baroness Falkner, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and ex-Ofsted boss Baroness Spielman. 

Baroness Falkner said: 'Despite some improvements, too many schools continue to implement policies that place ideology over evidence. 

'This is simply not acceptable in a system responsible for the welfare of children.'

A Department for Education spokesman said: 'Our top priority is the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people in education. 

'We are introducing statutory guidance on children who are questioning their gender – so safeguarding stays at the centre of every decision.'

HOSPITALS: NHS women are still forced to share changing rooms 

By Martin Beckford 

Women working in the NHS say they are still being forced to share changing rooms with men who identify as female.

Health service workers who identify as the opposite sex have also been told by bosses that they can continue to use whichever toilets they want, it is claimed.

And patients are at risk of unwittingly being treated by transgender medics because hospital bosses are defying the landmark Supreme Court judgment, a survey has found.

Female staff say they fear speaking up in case they are branded transphobic, claiming they have lost trust in the NHS because its culture still supports gender ideology.

The survey of 89 members of NHS staff who belong to the gender-critical SEEN in Health network found that almost all say their employers have failed to update their policies in line with the law.

In total, 94 per cent said unlawful self-ID policies remained in place at their trusts, while 83 per cent said no interim arrangements had been put in place for single-sex spaces.

One woman told researchers: 'I am still forced to share a changing room with a male colleague... I feel demoralised.' 

Another said: 'I know that I may encounter a man in the ladies and would not be supported by my employer if I objected.' 

A trust told staff earlier this year they could continue using whichever single sex space 'they feel is right for them'.

SEEN in Health said: 'This points to a widespread and ongoing failure to implement legal requirements across the NHS, with implications for staff safety, patient dignity, and organisational accountability.'

An NHS spokesman said: 'It's important that we wait for the Equality and Human Rights Commission's statutory guidance to be published following the Supreme Court's judgment before final decisions about future policy are taken.'  

COUNCILS: Town halls accused of virtue-signalling 

Town halls have been accused of wasting time and taxpayers' money on 'virtue-signalling' criticism of the Supreme Court ruling.

Research has found that more than a dozen councils across England have spoken out against the judgment and subsequent guidance from the equalities watchdog.

Many of the motions were proposed by Lib Dem councillors and based on a 'support trans rights' template created by campaigners. One, voted through by St Albans council in December, resolved to ensure that local policies 'explicitly affirm support for trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse people and that language used is inclusive'.

Fiona McAnena, of the Sex Matters charity, said: 'Why are these councils wasting time and resources on motions that criticise the Supreme Court judgment?'