Working to improve access to toilets across Wales

On Thursday 19 January 2017, Andy McGuinness, Crohn's & Colitis UK's Social Policy and Public Affairs Officer, gave oral evidence to members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on improving access to toilets through the Public Health (Wales) Bill.

Part 7 of the Bill provides a duty on all 22 local authorities in Wales to create their own Local Toilets Strategy. By working with local partners and those affected by continence issues, the strategy will have to assess the need for toilets locally and set out steps that the local authority propose to take to increase access to toilets.

It is a significant piece of legislation as it is the first time any institution in the UK has treated access to toilets as a Public Health concern. A lack of toilets and not having the confidence of finding one, can have a devastating impact on a person’s ability to engage in regular activities away from home such as going to work, school, shopping or socialising.

Whilst the charity is very supportive of the Bill, we believe there are a number of ways that it could be strengthened to ensure that the toilet strategies are successful in improving access to toilets for the 15,000 people in Wales living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.