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Date: April 2008

 

THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC TOILETS INQUIRY

MEMORANDUM BY JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION

 

Background

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is one of the largest social policy research and development charities in the UK. For over a century we have been engaged with searching out the causes of social problems, investigating solutions and seeking to influence those who can make changes. JRF's purpose is to search, demonstrate and influence, providing evidence, solutions and ideas that will help to overcome the causes of poverty, disadvantage and social evil. This submission concentrates on our research evidence relating to the concerns of the enquiry regarding public toilets.

 

The need for public toilets

1. The JRF is aware that there are concerns about inadequate provision of public toilets from a wider research programme that the organisation carried out on the use of public spaces. While we have not looked at this issue in detail, it arose as a significant and recurring theme in the broader context of the availability of public amenities in different localities and the impact this has on people's use of public spaces in several projects funded under JRF's Public Spaces Programme.

 

2. Research on the contribution of local high streets to sustainable communities which included case studies and survey work in three local high streets outside town centres (in Tooting, Coventry and Sheffield) (Peter Jones et al, 2007) highlighted that residents and visitors expressed high levels of satisfaction with the range of local shops and other facilities and enjoyed the opportunities to meet friends on the high streets examined. However these advantages were offset by negative features particularly the dominance of road traffic, the poor appearance and condition of the streets and the lack of greenery, seating and public toilets.

 

3. Provision of public toilets was the area of highest dissatisfaction in terms of local amenities examined in the three sites, ranging from 62% of those surveyed in Tooting to 85% in Ball Hill, Coventry. Levels of dissatisfaction with the provision of public toilets were slightly higher among businesses than the public - 70% in Tooting, 87% on London Road, Sheffield and 88% in Ball Hill, Coventry. However, the research did not determine how far business concerns related to their toilets being used by members of the public and it was not clear from other questions whether people were making connections between public toilets and wider concerns about antisocial behaviour.

 

4. The lack of toilets is notably a concern for specific groups of the population, in particular, older age groups commented on it in a study of markets across a number of areas (Watson, 2007) and it was also raised in a detailed study of public spaces in Aylesbury (Holland et al 2007).

 

Antisocial behaviour, image

5. This wider work also suggests that some people, particularly older age groups associated some toilets with antisocial behaviour (Holland et al 2007).

 

6. Research supported by the JRF has shown that a significant proportion of drug users report injecting in public toilets. A survey of 301 needle and syringe exchange users found that 34% had injected at least once in a public toilet in the week prior to interview (Hunt et al., 2007).

 

7. An Independent Working Group on Drug Consumption Rooms concluded that this and other evidence argued for the piloting of Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs) in the UK. Evidence from abroad has shown that the implementation of DCRs has been associated with significant declines in public injecting and related nuisance (Independent Working Group on Drug Consumption Rooms, 2006).

 

Accessibility of public toilets

8. In central Aylesbury, shoppers and passers-by as well as researchers involved in the work and members of the public surveyed identified both the location and design of toilets as a major problem (Holland et al 2007). Accessibility was also a concern. In particular it was noted that the toilets at the bus station were often locked, others in a shopping mall were only accessible by stairs or a lift during shopping hours and the toilets at the town end of one of the town parks were not always open even during the daytime and had a 'reputation' which meant that many people felt uncomfortable using them.

 

9. With the redevelopment of one of the town's main squares, the public toilets were demolished and, particularly for the older people surveyed, this posed a considerable problem. Several commented that the introduction of water features precipitated a need to use toilets and the available public facilities were too far away for people with mobility problems. While people could have used local cafes, they were concerned about the associated need to spend money to access the facilities. The team suggested that 'inadequate provision discriminates against some groups, notably older people, those with disabilities, children and carers and acts as a disincentive to frequenting certain parts of town'.

 

10. Notably in a dissemination event held to discuss the JRF's research programme on public spaces in 2007, provision of public toilets also came up as an important issue in discussions with practitioners and professionals working across a range of disciplines on public space. Here people also raised concerns about older people and public toilets and the loss of toilets and the implications of this with an ageing population becoming more important.