Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham, has spoken in the Second Reading of the Non-Domestic Rating (Public Lavatories) Bill. You can watch him speak here.
Richard has been campaigning to get the toilet tax scrapped. Public toilets cost local authorities around £8 million every year in business rates, and Town and Parish councils also have to pay to keep them running. As a result of this, many public loos have been closed. The business rates are an enormous drain on resources in places like Wolsingham, where the annual local budget is £60,000. In 2018, the former Chancellor pledged to bring in business rates relief for public loos, but this ended up not being put into legislation. You can read more about Richard’s campaign here and here.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Richard paid tribute to his colleagues who have been campaigning against the toilet tax, as well as the team as the Association of National Councils. He mentioned that councils have had extra costs during the coronavirus crisis, related to providing the community support, and that the scrapping of toilet tax would go a long way towards ensuring that costs can be lowered for councils to make sure money is being used where it is needed. He pointed out that public loos are vital for those with hidden disabilities, people with children and women and girls. He spoke about the need for public toilets for rural areas and for tourism.
Commenting, Richard said ‘Public toilets are incredibly useful facilities, whether it is for those that have hidden disabilities, those who need to ensure that their children have access to a loo or those people that find having access to a public loo is very useful and enables them to go out into the community. I am really pleased that so many of my colleagues in Parliament are campaigning to get the toilet tax scrapped. It will free up huge amounts of funding in North West Durham, particularly in areas like Wolsingham where the council has to spend a large amount of its budget on funding these vital public facilities.’
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