Loo-less Britain: Number of public toilets falls by 14% in 5 years

25 Aug 2023

EMBARGO: 00:01 Saturday 26th August

Data revealed through a Liberal Democrats Freedom of Information Act data has shown the number of public toilets has fallen by 14% since 2018/19
A quarter (24%) of councils cited costs as at least part of the reason they had to shut their facilities. A fifth (20%) worryingly cited anti-social behaviour, arson, threats to staff, or vandalism as at least part of the reason they closed their facilities.
Lib Dems call for the Government to set up a new Public Toilet Fund for local communities.

There has been a 14% decrease in the number of public toilets in 45 councils since 2018/19 according to a Liberal Democrat FOI.

The number of public toilets has fallen from 531 to 459 in 45 Councils according to the FOI from the Lib Dems, that is a 14% drop in just 5 years. If the trend continues, the number will more than halve by 2050.

A quarter (24%) of the councils said that the financial pressures of keeping the facilities open meant that they could no longer provide them. Worryingly, a fifth (20%) highlighted anti-social behaviour, arson, threats to staff, or vandalism as at least part of the reason they closed their facilities.

The FOI also revealed the average length public toilets are open which is just 10.4 hours. For Harlow council, one of their public toilets was open for just 4 hours a day. Thanet council had the lowest average opening times for their public toilets as they were open for just 5.5 hours a day.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the government to set up a public toilet fund so that councils can provide safe facilities that meet the needs of local communities.

Liberal Democrat Local Government spokesperson, Helen Morgan MP said:

“This is yet another example of our local communities up and down the country being abandoned by this Conservative government. People deserve these basic facilities and yet they are being let down.

“Ministers have, for years, savagely cut local authority budgets and now we are seeing the erosion of local facilities like public toilets.

“We need real and targeted funding to ensure local people are getting the fair deal that they deserve.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The collated data from the FOI responses can be found here.