Toilet Facilities: People with Disabilities — House of Commons, 2017-01-17
Topic: Social Welfare
Gavin Barwell (Conservative, Centre-right): I will be delighted to do that, and my suggestion to hon. Members who want to meet is that it is probably best to wait until we have the research, and to have a meeting when we are at the point of reviewing the regulations I was talking about the spending power of disabled people. The need to unlock this potential is clear. In March 2015 the Extra Costs Commission found that three quarters of disabled people and their families had felt so badly treated because of their disability that they had left the shop or business. That is shocking and this is simply not good enough To help to address this, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work is assembling some of the nation’s best tech experts at the Google campus on 26 January to identify how technology platforms can help people share knowledge about where access is not good enough. She will be inviting Members of the House to attend a showcase on 6 February in the Attlee Room to share the ideas generated at that event, and I encourage Members of both Houses to attend and think about how we can all champion improved accessible provision in our own communities. That community leadership is important, and there is a clear precedent for community, business and public sector leadership delivering improvements in accessible toilet provision through the success of the Changing Places campaign I first became aware of Changing Places toilets in my role as the Minister with responsibility for building regulations. It is clear from the correspondence that I see that the number of people with multiple and profound disabilities, and others who need more specialised toilet provision, has increased significantly in recent years. This includes members of the armed forces who have been injured when serving their country; younger adults seeking to live a full, active life; and an increasing number of elderly people. For those people, and for their families and carers, the availability of adequate toilet facilities becomes central to planning any activity outside the home Changing Places toilets provide an adult changing bench, a hoist, washing facilities and the space for carers and users to use the facilities safely. It is heartening to see that local and national campaigners, backed by the Government and working in partnership with business and local councils, have increased the number of Changing Places toilets from 140 in 2007 to 914 today. That is a great success story, and it proves what can be achieved when there is strong leadership and collaboration across sectors, but improving the provision of accessible toilets is only part of what is needed. One of the key points, as the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West (Rob Marris) pointed out, is that it is important to signpost where accessible toilet provision can be found, and Changing Places has provided a sign of how that might be achieved In 2015 my Department, along with the devolved Administrations, funded Mencap and the British Toilet Association to develop a website detailing the location, opening hours and facilities of every Changing Places toilet in the UK. This enables disabled people and their carers to locate the nearest toilet at the touch of a button. The website even includes a journey planner that shows every Changing Places toilet along a given route. This simple technology has had a positive impact, and I would encourage further exploration as to how this might also work for the wider network of standard accessible and public toilet provision, to ensure that people like Mr Dean are able to find a toilet facility when they need to do so In summary, we have already started the process of looking at accessible toilet provision as part of our programme of research on the building regulations. That will help to inform decisions on whether changes need to be made. We will continue to stress the importance of meeting duties under the Equality Act, including the duty to make reasonable adjustments to buildings and to management practice to help to meet the needs of disabled people. We will also continue to look at ways in which technology and leadership can make a difference. It is important that local authorities, public bodies and business continue to consider how they might look beyond legislation to improve the provision of accessible toilets, including identifying opportunities to introduce enhanced provision such as Changing Places. I would like to end by thanking the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde for raising these most important issues, and by thanking all the other Members who have been here for the debate. I would be happy to continue to discuss how we can work together to deliver further change in this important area Question put and agreed to.