Toilet campaign latest
We took your concerns about public toilet closures to the Minister for Local Government, Marcus Jones MP to ask what is being done to protect the vital amenities
When we first raised the issue of the declining number of public toilets in Britain, we really hit a nerve. You wrote to us in your hundreds telling us how concerned you were about the impact this was having on your communities, and that you wanted something to be done. Many of you pointed out that living with a medical condition such as IBS, bladder and bowel problems or a disability meant having access to a toilet while out and about was vital. And that without adequate toilet provision, being able to travel too far from home was a difficulty. So we invited you to send in a pledge card, showing your support for keeping public toilets open and asking that they should be exempt from a business rate charge so more can stay open. And we were delighted to receive a staggering 797 responses – thank you to all those who got involved! And so it was, armed with a bursting box of your pledges, that our senior news writer Katharine Wootton, pictured inset left, knocked on the office door of Marcus Jones MP, the Minister for Local Government, whose remit covers public conveniences, to raise the issue on your behalf. Taking a careful look at your pledges, Marcus said that the government acknowledges the problem and wants to help. “Public toilets are a very important facility and we, as a government, are trying to help local councils with the provision of public conveniences by currently bringing through a Bill in the House of Commons.” This Local Government Finance Bill looks at local
‘There should be no rates at all on public toilets’ British Toilet Association
council business rates, which are charged to all non-domestic buildings, currently including public toilets. It’s this hefty rate that some councils have said is behind their struggle to keep public lavatories open. With this Bill, local authorities will be able to grant themselves relief from business tax, with the government subsidising half of the rate cost, saving the council 50 per cent in costs. Expected to come into effect in April 2018, if it successfully goes through the legislation would only apply to England. In Wales, the Welsh Government is currently debating new rules which would require local authorities to prepare a strategy for providing public toilets in their community. The Scottish government currently has no plans to review its business rate charge on public loos, but councils can provide their own rates relief for public toilets if they wish. In Northern Ireland, public conveniences are already exempt from business rates. But for English councils who could take advantage of this Bill, will it do enough? We spoke to Raymond Martin, director of the British Toilet Association, who has lobbied the government on this issue for years. “We’re delighted the government is looking at the problem but we think there should be no rates at all on public toilets. Public conveniences have no commercial value whatsoever – they’re a public amenity there for the health and wellbeing of the community, so why are the councils being charged at all for them? The government can’t just say we’ll give councils 50 per cent off and well done us. “We ideally need a think tank to come in and work out a strategy for public loos and we need to abolish the rates on toilets altogether. Sadly I don’t think this Bill currently going through Parliament will do enough.” Certainly for the areas in the UK which now have only one or no toilets, this Bill may be too late. But could any money saved be used to provide more toilets in these areas in the future? Marcus Jones says that would be up to individual councils. He also says he’s a big advocate of the Community Partnership Scheme, which sees local councils team up with businesses to offer toilets to the public. But many of you told us you felt anxious asking to use a toilet when you weren’t a customer. Marcus said: “It will be critical to raise awareness among the public of how they can access this public toilet scheme and exactly where those toilets are.“Is there any hope that it could one day be made law for councils to provide public toilets? “We need to be mindful that if we’d have brought a law in 50 years ago saying all public toilets as they stand have to be preserved, we would have done the public both a service and a disservice because we could have ended up with thousands of public toilets that aren’t suitable for the modern day. I know in my own area that there are some public toilets which are in a condition people wouldn’t expect in the 21st Century and some people have actually lobbied for certain unsuitable conveniences to be removed. “I would encourage local councils to look very carefully at their area and assess the need there for public toilet provision and make a decision based on that. “With this new Bill, we’ve responded to concerns that have been raised with us over the years, no doubt by many Yours readers and we do think this Bill will have a very positive effect as it will cost less for councils to run public conveniences.” One thing is for certain, we’ll be monitoring the situation closely in the next few months.
‘It is critical to raise awareness of how the public can access the toilet scheme’ Minister for Local Government, Marcus Jones MP