A provision to include more Changing Places toilets in public buildings has been added to the new Scottish Planning Bill this week, thanks to Jeremy Balfour MSP.
Changing Places toilets are specialist toilets that go above and beyond the standard disabled toilet design. They include equipment such as a tracking hoist, height adjustable benches and room enough to accommodate a disabled person and up to two carers.
When the new Scottish Planning Bill comes into force, new large venues such as schools, sports centres, hospitals or retail centres will be required to include a Changing Places toilet in their development in order to be granted planning permission.
Jeremy Balfour, Scottish Conservative Disability spokesman said,
“This is a huge step forward for Scotland in including and supporting its disabled population.
“The current provision is shockingly poor with just 172 Changing Places toilets across the whole of Scotland and only 10 within Edinburgh.
“It is only right and fair that disabled people are able to go about their daily lives; going to school, to the shops or a trip to the cinema, with the ability use a toilet facility comfortably and safely – something we all tend to take for granted.
“I am pleased to have championed this cause at the Scottish Parliament and hope it will bring the day a step closer when disabled people and their carers are spared the indignity of having to resort to using toilet floors or car boots as their only option for changing facilities.”
Laura Rutherford who’s six year old son Brody requires a Changing Places Toilet due to his disability said:
“Using the toilet is a basic human right. Yet thousands of disabled people, like my son Brody, are denied this right when they go out due to a lack of Changing Places toilets.
“Without Changing Places toilets, many families are unable to enjoy a simple day out without having to change their loved ones in unsafe, unhygienic and undignified places, like public toilet floors.
“Our loved ones deserve better than this. This proposed amendment to the Planning Bill is a fantastic step forward in ensuring that Scotland becomes truly inclusive."
Jenny Miller, CEO for PAMIS (Promoting a More Inclusive Society) who campaign in Scotland for Changing Places toilets said:
“PAMIS has been highlighting for a number of years the issues that arise due to a lack of Changing Places toilets. We are delighted that Scotland is going one-step further than anywhere else in the UK to insure that inclusion is at the heart of our communities.
“Changing Places toilets are not a luxury, they are a basic human need and without them people are isolated, marginalised and unable to access activities and resources that the rest of us take for granted. The family carers that we work with have passionately highlighted how isolating and humiliating it is not to have these resources.”