Public health implications of inadequate public toilet facilities

Public health implications of inadequate public toilet facilities

The Committee held a short inquiry on the public health implications of inadequate public toilet facilities in winter 2011-2012. The Committee considered the following questions as part of its work:

 

  • what were the effects of public toilet provision (or lack thereof) on the health and social wellbeing of a person?
  • was there evidence of people being unable to leave their homes due to concerns over the availability of public toilets? If so, what were the health and wellbeing implications of this?
  • were there equality across Wales – and in relation to all people – in the provision of public toilets?

-     how should public toilet facilities address the needs of different groups of people (men, women, disabled people, people with special health needs, children)?

-     was there a particular need for improved facilities for specific groups?

  • what could the wider effects of inadequate public toilet provision be on public health and the community? e.g. correspondence sent to the Petitions Committee suggests that there was a risk of street fouling and a consequential spread of disease.

 

The remit of the Health and Social Care Committee is to examine legislation and hold the Welsh Government to account by scrutinising expenditure, administration and policy matters encompassing: the physical, mental and public health of the people of Wales, including the social care system. Consequently, the focus of the Committee’s work was the public health implications of public toilet provision and the Committee was unable to consider:

 

  • any potential duty on local authorities to provide facilities; or
  • the closure of individual facilities.

 

Evidence from the Public

 

The Committee held a public consultation to gather evidence on this topic.

 

The Committee’s report

The Committee reported in March 2012 (PDF, 530KB). The Welsh Government responded in March 2012 (PDF, 149KB).

Business type: Committee Inquiry

Status: Complete

First published: 06/12/2011

Documents

Consultations