Memorandum by the City of London Corporation
(the Office of the City Remembrancer)
INTRODUCTION
1. The City of London Corporation welcomes
this opportunity to contribute to the Select Committee's inquiry.
The provision of public conveniences is an issue that has become
more pressing in the City in recent years with the growth of the
night time economy, an increased working population and the increase
in tourism. At present there are seven staffed public conveniences
in the Square Mile open at peak times during the day and nine
automated public conveniences (APCs), which are open 24 hours
a day. Four of the APCs are accessible by disabled users. The
City Corporation aims to provide and maintain a high standard
of cleanliness and service at all of its conveniences.
DEMAND FOR
PUBLIC TOILETS
2. The City Corporation aims to make suitable
provision of public conveniences across the Square Mile to meet
the needs of workers and residents and also the increasing numbers
of visitors who come to the City as tourists, as shoppers, or
for an evening out. Each user is likely to have differing needs
in terms of location and opening hours and gender also affects
the issue. In the City's experience demand is greater for male
facilities.
3. The City Corporation has, from time-to-time
reviewed service provision to cater for changes in demand as they
arise. This has resulted in changes to opening hours of staffed
facilities and revised provision in relation to the number of
APCs. Despite these reviews there is, however, a real issue at
night time with the Cleansing Service experiencing high levels
of anti-social behaviour in public areas including vomiting, urinating
and defecating which give rise to associated clean up costs. The
worrying increase in this behaviour can, at least in part, be
attributed to changes in licensing laws which have prompted a
more active night-time economy in the Square Mile but increases
in the City's working population and, more generally, in visitor
numbers are also contributing factors.
ADDRESSING DEMAND
4. In light of the increased demand the
City Corporation has recently committed to undertake a further
review of service provision to explore how best to address the
increased demand and seek to identify where viable efficiencies
can be achieved. In order to understand better the needs of the
user, the review will identify different user types by their needs
and this information will be used to inform planning for future
facilities in terms of location and opening hours. This will include
consideration of shopping centres, transient workers such as taxi
drivers, market traders, location of clubs and premises with late
night liquor licenses etc.
5. The study will also include a review
of existing facilities. Data on usage across the period of opening
is currently kept for all APCs and staffed public conveniences
and this will be revisited to ensure facilities are most appropriately
located and to avoid any unnecessary duplication. Given the reluctance
by some people to walk any significant distance to a public convenience,
exact choice of location is essential and this data will provide
a comprehensive picture of potential demand for service by time
of day or night.
6. It is likely that existing resources,
even with some further minor changes in deployment, will be unable
to meet demand. There have been significant developments in the
design of public conveniences and it is hoped that the City may
be able to benefit from these advances. These include innovative
automated urinals (such as "Urilifts") which are sunk
into the ground to be flush with existing ground surface when
not in use. These are then electronically raised and returned
as and when the facility is needed. This style of toilet offers
a high level of aesthetic value leaving the streetscene clear
and uncluttered but costly and installation requires locations
free of sunken piping or cabling. New approaches also include
the temporary portable open style urinals used now by some authorities
and which can be stored when not in use. These present passers-by
with a rear view of those using the facility but could be used
to deal with periods of high demand in certain locations.
7. The City also intends to investigate
the feasibility of a "Community Toilet Scheme" in which
shops and/or businesses are recompensed by the local authority
for making their toilets available for public use. Whilst this
approach may not assist in meeting demand associated with the
night time economy, it could assist in meeting increased demand
during the day and could serve to engender a greater community
spirit. The City Corporation is also exploring possibilities of
including public convenience provision in plans for s106 ("planning
gain") monies in relation to new commercial developments.
STAFFED FACILITIES
8. The City's staffed conveniences, for
which there is no charge at present, are placed in areas where
there is the greatest footfall—for example near major attractions
such as the Tower of London. There are clear advantages to such
facilities when compared with those that are unmanned. The presence
of an attendant can serve to deter anti-social behaviour in the
toilets, provide security for the building and also give a sense
of security to individuals using the facility. At first glance,
the addition of staff costs would suggest that these facilities
are more expensive to run than unmanned facilities. In the City's
experience, however, the costs of staffing are on the whole outweighed
by the benefit of reduced costs in dealing with the effects of
vandalism and other examples of anti-social behaviour. There are
nevertheless some costs which apply regardless of whether a facility
is manned. The nature of buildings in the City in which conveniences
are situated means that there are often quite high maintenance
costs relating to the fabric of the building.
ANTI SOCIAL
BEHAVIOUR
9. The provision of facilities for the increased
numbers or responsible users in the City has been the main driver
for the review of services. Much of the anti-social behaviour,
especially urination, is however a result of drunken or irresponsible
behaviour following the growth in the night time economy. Urination
in the City has been identified as a persistent problem by the
community at neighbourhood panel meetings and residential meetings.
The Cleansing Service has already started to collate information
on sites of repeated anti-social behaviour in order to target
action on those areas. The City Police are currently giving some
consideration to how best to tackle the problem although they
advise that they have at present limited powers in relation to
those caught urinating in public. The City is working through
its existing Safer City Partnership to review the legislation
available to develop a more effective strategy for anti-social
behaviour hot spots. Reducing alcohol related anti-social behaviour
is a priority area identified by the Safer City Partnership for
the next three years.
PUBLIC INFORMATION
10. Public information on the location of
facilities is essential in order to maximise awareness of them
and encourage their use. Locations are already shown on signage,
on the City of London website with maps are available upon request.
Locations are also clearly highlighted on literature associated
with major events such as the London Marathon and Lord Mayor's
Show. As part of a campaign to increase awareness, the City intends
to investigate further options including making maps detailing
the location of facilities more readily available in the City
Corporation's buildings and the option of using reception/leaflet
display areas of business with high usage, including Network Rail
and London Underground stations. Some authorities are now exploring
"text-a-loo" publicity whereby mobile phone users simply
text the local authority and receive back details of the nearest
facility. This approach has recently been introduced in City of
Westminster and the success of the scheme will be monitored by
the City Corporation.
May 2008
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