The Toilet Paper: Improving London’s loos

Public toilets need to be fit for purpose – accessible for all Londoners, clean, and safe.

But an investigation by the London Assembly Health Committee has identified some serious concerns about both the quantity and quality of London’s loos.

A survey of 3,504 Londoners conducted by the Committee found that 91.3% of respondents do not feel toilet provision is adequate to meet their needs [1]. Results also revealed that finding a restroom was even harder if you have a disability or long-term health condition.

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 is marking today, World Toilet Day, by publishing its report, which makes 12 recommendations in three key areas. These include:

Principle 1: Duty

• The Government should make the provision of public toilets a statutory duty for local authorities, provide ringfenced funding to achieve this, and the Mayor should be leading on lobbying for this issue for London.
• The Mayor should engage with businesses on the high street, to encourage them to open their toilets to the public and advertise that they are doing so.

Principle 2: Directions

• TfL should add an easy-to-find toilet map on their TfL Go app.
• TfL should meet with disability charities to review their provision for people with disabilities and people with long-term health conditions.

Principle 3: Data

• Each local authority should produce a toilet strategy based on population need and current provision.
• The Mayor should review the health inequalities implications of current public toilet provision in London and use that analysis to help drive improvements.

Chair of the Health Committee, Caroline Russell AM, said:

“It is clear from the Health Committee investigation that Londoners have grave concerns about the city’s public toilets being wiped out. The lack of toilets in London is a public INconvenience and closures are worsening the problem.

“It is simply not acceptable that people are purposefully dehydrating themselves over concerns that they might not be able to find a loo when away from home. Some even feel they cannot leave the house at all.

“Our findings should serve as a wake-up call that having no place to go, can have serious physical and mental health consequences.

“Londoners are being let down by a lack of loos. We need to see enhanced leadership and accountability at national, regional and local level to improve the chronic lack of decent public toilet provision in our city. Public toilets are not just a convenience – they’re a necessity.”