Schools that support a child’s wish to switch gender without informing their parents are potentially breaching the law, according to a respected Scottish lawyer.

Guidance adopted by about half of Scotland’s 32 local authorities advises schools to respect a transgender pupil’s privacy and suggests that parents need not be told if their child wishes to be treated as a member of the opposite sex.

A mother in Scotland who discovered that her daughter was being affirmed as a boy at school without her knowledge has sought legal opinion from Aidan O’Neill, a respected lawyer who is a QC at the English and Scottish bars.

O’Neill argues that the guidance, published four years ago by the charity, LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS), is flawed.

His view, drawn