(
https://vimeo.com/479971384) UK public toilets are in ‘crisis’
The British Toilet Association (BTA) has called for improved legislation and for more Government funding to address the current ‘appalling’ lack of public toilet provision.
Public toilets are in ‘crisis’ and rapidly vanishing, it said, with many of those that remain displaying totally unacceptable levels of cleanliness and hygiene, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made the situation worse.
Many public toilets have been
locked down since the start of the pandemic due to a lack of cleaning, funding or any Government guidance on how to get them fit for purpose, the BTA has revealed.
The public was being forced to go to the toilet in streets, beaches, open spaces and beauty spots, causing street fouling figures to escalate, aggravating the risk of COVID-19 transmission and leaving the local authorities to foot considerable clean-up costs, it added.
With no legal requirement in place to force local authorities to provide or run public toilets then, the BTA believes the majority of councils across the UK do not allocate sufficient resources or funds to the provision of public toilets.
The BTA is calling for the Government to make sanitation and hygiene a major priority and support local authorities in order to stop the closures, open new public facilities and establish a new set of standards for their hygiene and cleanliness.
The BTA has been lobbying for action since the pandemic began, asking questions of Ministers and the PM, writing to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and has taken part in a Zoom meeting with Lord Stephen Greenhalgh, the Minister for Building Safety and Communities and other Members of the House of Lords, but without an adequate response. It is currently
www.tomorrowscleaning.com
preparing to write again to Lord Greenhalgh and also to the Health Secretary.
BTA Managing Director, Raymond Martin, said: “We are appalled at the total lack of funding over many years and extremely concerned at the closures and unprecedented low levels of public toilet facilities before, during and going into the future. This is now a crisis.
“Across our beautiful country, that was once the envy of the world because of its sanitation systems and hygiene controls, those responsible have allowed us to fall so far from the standards our forefathers achieved.
“Then along comes one of the deadliest pathogens for many generations and, unbelievably, our ministers and their Government colleagues cannot see the need or make available any primary funding to tackle and fight this continuing threat to our nation’s daily existence.
“From the very first announcement of the arrival of COVID-19, the Government has been repeatedly telling everyone to ‘wash your hands’ but how much money has it allocated, spent or even committed to increasing sanitation and hygiene during a pandemic? The answer is nothing.
“COVID is transmitted in human excrement and urine so forcing the public to use our open spaces to go to the toilet can only be a recipe for continued or increased transmission and incubation of this most deadly pathogen, and any future variants.
“Anyone suffering with an accessibility issue or those caring for someone who has limited mobility or a medical condition is socially excluded and potentially deemed prisoners in their own homes.
“Footfall in shops and many high streets continues to remain low as
the lack of decent toilet facilities is driving shoppers away to out of town superstores, leaving
the villages and town shops with diminishing revenues and under the constant threat of closure.
“The BTA has spent the last 18 months primarily firefighting the lack of publicly accessible toilets across the UK, but with very limited success without the support of this Government. It’s time that this Government made sanitation and hygiene a major priority and supported the local authorities to stop the closures of public toilets, restore standards and tackle this pandemic in our public buildings and spaces.”
www.btaloos.co.uk WHAT’S NEW? | 7
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