The Toilet Paper: Improving London’s loos

Public toilets are integral to making the capital accessible, inclusive, and economically viable, but it seems London’s loos are not meeting expectations.

The Health Committee report makes 12 recommendations in three key areas.

Principle 1: Duty

• Recommendation 1 The government should make the provision of public toilets a statutory duty for local authorities, and the Mayor should be leading on this issue for London, lobbying with London Councils for the provision of ringfenced funding to enable this to be achieved.
• Recommendation 2 The Mayor and London Councils should provide an opportunity for local authorities to share best practice on their community toilet schemes, including how to run them successfully and how to ensure that information and directions about such schemes are clear, consistent and accessible.
• Recommendation 3 The Mayor should engage with large businesses and retail chains on the high street, to encourage them to open their toilets to the public and advertise that they are doing so.
• Recommendation 4 To make current public toilets more financially viable, and to stimulate provision of new public toilets, the Mayor should convene local authorities and prospective commercial partners to explore innovative practice with regards to advertising and broader commercial opportunities in public toilets.
• Recommendation 5 TfL should share, in a public forum, the results of their current review of toilet provision across the network and any actions that will be taken as a result of the findings.
• Recommendation 6 TfL should create an action plan for how they will enable the wider public, not just paying passengers, to access toilets situated behind the barrier in stations.

Principle 2: Directions

• Recommendation 7 The Mayor, local authorities and TfL should all improve the quantity and quality of information on how to find the types of publicly accessible toilets that Londoners require, with the information provided in a range of formats that suit the diverse needs of Londoners.
• Recommendation 8 TfL should add an easy-to-find toilet map on their TfL Go app, ensure it is available in accessible formats and contains accurate data on facilities and opening times.
• Recommendation 9 TfL should meet with disability charities including Crohn’s and Colitis UK, and Changing Places, to review their provision for people with disabilities and people with long-term health conditions and join the “not every disability is visible” campaign.

Principle 3: Data

• Recommendation 10 Each local authority should produce a toilet strategy based on population need and current provision.
• Recommendation 11 Using the principles of the Health Inequalities Strategy, the Mayor should review the health inequalities implications of current public toilet provision in London, and use that analysis to help drive improvements in provision with partner organisations.
• Recommendation 12 The Mayor and London Councils should work with local authorities to review the quality of accessible toilets to ensure they are genuinely accessible for Londoners with all disabilities.