Assembly Committee backs concerns over public toilet provision

5 March 2012

A National Assembly for Wales committee has endorsed the view that there is a public health case for better public toilet provision.

It follows an inquiry by the Health and Social Care Committee in response to a petition referred to it by the Petitions Committee which stated:

“We, the undersigned, call upon the National Assembly for Wales to investigate the health and social wellbeing implications resulting from public toilets closures and to urge the Welsh Government to issue guidance to local authorities to ensure adequate public toilet provision.”

The Committee agreed with a report published by Age Cymru (previously Help the Aged in Wales) in 2009 which highlighted that older people surveyed felt public toilets were difficult to find or not open when needed, and that facilities did not meet their needs and were unclean and unsafe.

The Committee was told by witnesses of a general decline in the number of public toilet facilities, a claim supported by the British Toilet Association which advised that the number of public toilets had reduced by about 40 per cent in recent years.

“Lack of public toilet provision does not just affect older people,” said Mark Drakeford AM, Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee.

“It can be an issue for those with disabilities, with bladder and bowel conditions or those with young children.

“If a person doesn’t feel confident in leaving their home without knowing where there is adequate toilet provision, it can leave them alone and isolated, and can impact on both their physical and mental health.

“We also heard evidence of inadequate public toilet facilities leading to street fouling, which obviously has an impact on the wider environmental health of Wales.

“We have concluded that there is a clear public health case for ensuring adequate public toilet provision, and a number of practical solutions exist to help address this problem.

“As the provision of public toilets is a matter for local government, it is our view that further consideration of these practical solutions could usefully be given by those who are expert in local government matters.

“We will be writing to the Assembly’s Communities, Equalities and Local Government Committee, and to both the Minister for Health and Social Services and the Minister for Local Government and Communities, to draw our Report to their attention so that it can contribute to any further consideration they may be able to give to this matter.”