House of Commons - Communities and Local Government Committee

Select Committee on Communities and Local Government Committee Twelfth Report

5 The role of local authorities in providing public toilets

82. As noted above, the Public Health Act 1936 gives local authorities a power to provide public toilets, but imposes no duty to do so. However, the Local Government Act 2000 places a duty on local authorities to provide a 'community strategy', which

should aim to enhance the quality of life of local communities and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in the UK through action to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area and its inhabitants.[135]

83. The Government's Strategic Guide states that community strategies "set the overall strategic direction and long-term vision for the economic, social and environmental well-being of a local area."[136] Community strategies allow local communities to voice their needs and priorities; co-ordinate the work of the council and the work of the local public, private, voluntary and community organisations; co-ordinate present and future work of those organisations so that communities' needs are met; and contribute to sustainable development locally and more widely.[137]

84. Woking Borough Council, for example, has linked the provision of their public toilets in two of the three key priorities identified in its community strategy: one priority concerning a clean, healthy and safe environment and the other concerning integrated and accessible local facilities and services.[138] As the Government's Strategic Guide states, sustainable community strategies, working alongside other policies

can provide an opportunity and a context within which local authorities can review public access to toilets across their area, and make linkages with their spatial planning policies, balancing the needs of urban and rural areas, land use and urban design priorities, the developments of town centres, shopping and leisure areas, links with strategic transport, and the demands of the 24 hour economy.[139]

Local Development Frameworks

85. A Local Development Framework (LDF) is a folder of local development documents that outlines the way in which planning is to be managed.[140] According to the Government strategic paper, this can also be used by local authorities, alongside other approaches, to review their provision of public toilets and can also be used to set out their intention to seek contributions to fund public toilets for certain types of development.[141] The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is planning to use its Local Development Framework to encourage the building of public toilets in new developments.[142]

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)

86. Business Improvement Districts are voluntary, business-led partnerships in which local businesses can decide, by ballot, to pay a levy for additional services. They enable businesses to prioritise and commission specific services, building on existing public provision, to improve the local trading environment.[143] An example is in Croydon, where the Whitgift Shopping Centre, National Car Parks, and Croydon BID provided joint funding for the renovation and maintenance of two public toilets in the town centre area that had been closed for some years.[144] The Minister spoke to us about BIDs:

Of course, it is in the nature of a BID that businesses have discretion how they use that additional levy, but, again, because the evidence is that it adds to the attractiveness of an area and businesses and, therefore, people are more likely to go there and stay longer…there is a real argument here for economic benefit.[145]

Local Authority Business Growth Incentives (LABGI)

87. The Local Authority Business Grant Initiative allows local authorities to keep a share of revenue from business rates, thereby encouraging them to promote local economic growth. They can then decide how this money can be spent.[146] The Government's supplementary memorandum described Hertsmere Borough Council and its decision in May 2008 to spend £40,000 LABGI funding to pilot a community toilet scheme in Borehamwood for a year, starting this summer.

Performance Framework

88. The Government's Strategic Guide describes the new performance framework for local authorities and identifies 35 national indicators (NIs), chosen from a set of 198 for inclusion in Local Area Agreements between a local authority and central government. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government:

The new local performance framework will put people, places and their priorities at the heart of public services through greater flexibility to set and respond to local priorities; enable improved outcomes across areas through greater partnership working; increase engagement, accountability and scrutiny of local services by their communities; improve the way we allocate scarce resource through greater local flexibility and enabling increased pooling of funds; and establish clearer accountabilities for shared goals and provide more streamlined, effective and valuable performance management.[147]

89. There are six National Indicators (NIs) that link to the provision of public toilets: NI 4 (the percentage of people who feel that they can influence decisions in their locality); NI 5 (overall/general satisfaction with local area); NI 138 (satisfaction of people over 65 with both home and neighbourhood); NI 140 (fair treatment by local services); and NI 195 (improved street and environmental cleanliness). If local authorities are treating public toilet provision seriously, they should consider placing the provision of public toilets within one or more of these national indicators. There are a variety of different tools that local authorities can use as a lever to promote public toilets. We recommend that local authorities recognise the value of public toilets and find ways in which to include the provision of public toilets in their duty to support their local community, through, for example, Community Strategies, Local Development Frameworks, Local Area Agreements and Business Improvement Districts

135 "Preparing Community Strategies: Government Guidance to Local Authorities", Communities and Local Government, February 2007. Back

136 CLG, Strategic Guide, p 30. Back

137 "Preparing Community Strategies: Government Guidance to Local Authorities", Communities and Local Government, February 2007. Back

138 www.woking.gov.uk/environment/envservices/publictoilets. Back

139 CLG, Strategic Guide, p 30. Back

140 www.planningportal.gov.uk Back

141 CLG, Strategic Guide, p 30. Back

142 ibid Back

143 ibid Back

144 ibid Back

145 Q 126 Back

146 Ev 48 Back