The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-10378, in the name of Jeremy Balfour, on addressing the availability of changing places toilets. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
I invite members who wish to speak to press their request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible, and I invite Jeremy Balfour, who joins us remotely, to open the debate.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament recognises what it sees as the importance of providing Changing Places toilets in suitable locations across Scotland, including in the Lothian region, to ensure that the country is as accessible and inclusive as possible; notes that the Scottish Government, in its 2021-22 Programme for Government, set out to “invest £10 million to increase the number of Changing Places toilets across the country”, but notes with concern reports that no fund has yet been set up to allow this budget to be allocated; further notes that the UK Government made a similar commitment in its 2021 budget to invest £30.5 million in a Changing Places toilet fund and has already allocated the first round of funding, which amounted to £23.5 million, and is now in the process of allocating the further £7 million to complete its programme, on target, by the end of the financial year 2023-24; notes the comments made by the Scottish Government Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport in June 2023, in relation to the Petition PE2027, which is currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament, who stated that “funding for the construction of Changing Places Toilets has not yet been allocated and the timeframes for the distribution of this funding have not yet been announced”, and further notes the calls urging the Scottish Government to open this promised fund to ensure that Scotland is welcoming and accessible for all people with disabilities who require a Changing Places toilet.
17:05
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I wish a happy new year to you and everyone in Parliament.
I am delighted to have secured this members’ business debate. I thank all my colleagues who supported the motion. I understand that it will not be a topic that is familiar to everyone but, for those who rely on changing places, it is of the utmost importance. Changing places represent peace of mind while out and about, knowing that the necessary facilities are available, and people’s ability to enjoy a day out without having to worry about whether they will be able to use a bathroom. Fundamentally, changing places represent the difference between inclusion and exclusion.
Changing places are not a luxury, but a necessity. They are something that every person who has a disability will probably use at sometime in their lifetime. For those who are unaware, they are a specialised toilet facility designed for people with complex disabilities who require assistance with toileting. They are much larger than standard accessible toilets and come equipped with additional features to make using the toilet easier and more dignified for both the individual and their carer. They include a special toilet, a hoist, a changing bench and a lowered basin, among other things. Those are not luxuries; they are essential.
I am sometimes asked what has been my proudest achievement from my time in Parliament, and I take great joy in telling people that I was part of the effort that added a provision to the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 stipulating that all new building projects of a certain size would have to have a changing places toilet. It seems like a small thing, but I genuinely believe that it has made, and will continue to make, a massive difference to the lives of people with disabilities in Scotland.
However, I note that it should not take legislation for businesses to install a changing places toilet. Other than it being the right thing to do, there is hard evidence that it can increase customer engagement. The purple pound is a real and lucrative force that should never be overlooked.
We, as lawmakers, have a duty to consider the inclusion of disabled people as a top priority. The funding of changing places toilets should be a priority for us all to ensure that Scotland is a place that is fully inclusive and fully open for everyone to participate in. That is why I find it so disappointing that the Scottish Government has decided not to prioritise changing places toilets. As with so many other issues, the Scottish National Party has talked a big game, promising support and funding for installation, but when it comes to delivery, it has let everyone down.
The 2021 programme for government pledged that £10 million would go towards installation of changing places toilets in new buildings, and towards retrofitting older premises. Two years on, not a single penny of that money has been distributed, despite a number of projects, some in my region, being ready and waiting for the money. It was incredibly disappointing to hear Maree Todd, the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, answer a question on when the funding would finally be released by saying that there were no plans even to begin processing distribution until 2025. I remind members that it was an SNP pledge in the 2021 programme for government. That means that we will be waiting four years for funding that is desperately needed.
I was hoping that there might have been a change of heart from the SNP and that there would have been provision in the budget statement last month, but it was completely absent. We are talking about a relatively small amount of money in the grand scheme of the Scottish budget, but it will make a massive and real difference—[Inaudible.]
It should also be put on record that, at this point, the United Kingdom Government made a similar pledge on £30 million for England, which has been distributed and spent and disabled lives have been changed. Why is it that the big bad UK Government is able to follow through on its promises, but the Scottish Government cannot? Could it be that one Government values inclusion and the other does not?
I am tired of rhetoric, I am tired of empty promises, and I am tired of disabled people being promised the world by the SNP but having delivered to them absolutely nothing. To be very clear, I say that this is not just about a convenient option; it is about absolutely necessary equipment to allow people with profound disabilities and their families to participate in society. The betrayal by the Scottish Government in this way will not be forgotten by disabled people across Scotland.
I started this speech by wishing everyone a happy new year. The minister can make the new year of everyone with disabilities better by releasing the money now. I implore her to reconsider when she will allow people to spend the money. We have waited long enough. Disabled people deserve more.
I gently remind members who are looking to participate and who have not yet done so that they need to press their request-to-speak buttons.
17:11
I thank Jeremy Balfour for bringing this important debate to the chamber. In this Parliament, we aspire to a Scotland that is fair and that has dignity and respect for all at its heart. Equal access is needed for that to be a reality, and for some people access requires specific facilities. If we are to remove barriers to ensure that everyone can live their lives to the fullest extent, we must provide those facilities.
As we have heard, although standard accessible toilets are sufficient for many, they do not meet the needs of all disabled people. That creates a huge barrier for many people, their families and their carers, and prevents them from enjoying days out or making long journeys. People who need the facilities face isolation or are cutting their days out short. Some even dehydrate themselves so that they do not need to use the bathroom.
The alternatives are unsafe, unhygienic and undignified; for example, changing on bathroom floors or in car boots. Changing places toilets provide safe, spacious and clean facilities that are designed to meet the needs of people with more complex care needs. Those facilities remove a huge barrier and enable anyone to socialise, attend appointments or even go shopping, regardless of their disability.
Unfortunately, changing places toilets provision is concentrated in the central belt and in areas with a higher population density. A black spot the size of Wales persists across the rural west Highlands. Only one changing places toilet sits in that area, in Fort William, and, unfortunately, it has relatively restricted opening hours. There is not a single changing places toilet on the journey between Crieff and Barra. That gap in provision means that people who need those facilities and live in rural areas might be less able to get out and about locally or to undertake those long journeys. With a lot of specialist medical care centralised, people who need to travel for appointments face long and very difficult journeys.
As a key point that connects much of the north and west to the central belt, Tyndrum in my constituency has been identified as a priority location for a changing places toilet. The small town on the A82 sees more than 6,000 vehicles pass through it every single day. It is a key point on many routes, just south of where the A85 and the A82 split. The community in Tyndrum has done a magnificent amount of work in identifying a site.
I am grateful to Evelyn Tweed for giving way because she is making a very impassioned and convincing speech. Will she join Jeremy Balfour in calling on the minister to announce immediate action to release the £10 million, so that the facilities that she has rightly identified as indispensable can be delivered for the people who badly need them?
I thank Stephen Kerr for his intervention. I will ask the minister for some reassurances further on in my speech.
The Tyndrum community has done an amazing amount of work. It has found a site and carried out a feasibility study, and it is making the necessary preparations. All that it needs now, to make the proposal a reality, is the funding.
Like many, I was delighted when the Government announced the much-needed £10 million funding that Jeremy Balfour alluded to in his opening speech. I am keen to see those funds put into action, and I have sought regular updates from the minister. The public spending environment is challenging—I completely understand that—but the facilities are vital. Delivering funds for changing places toilets in strategic locations such as Tyndrum will make a huge impact. I call on the Government to provide information on when those funds will be available.
Changing places toilets make a dramatic difference to access to places such as Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park, which is also in my constituency. A facility was put in place there in 2017. Equal access has been made a reality there. It has removed barriers for many disabled people and their families, so that they feel included and can enjoy a day out without concern. Expanding provision in that way allows access and inclusion. I look forward to further progress being made in my constituency and beyond.
17:16
I am delighted to contribute to the debate, and I congratulate my colleague Jeremy Balfour on having raised this crucial subject.
As a former member of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee, I remember well the petition that was lodged by Sarah Heward on behalf of the Tyndrum Infrastructure Group, whose primary aim was to build a changing places toilet in the community. I share Sarah Heward’s and the group’s collective frustration with the slow progress that has been made, and I echo the sentiment of the petition that
“There is currently a black hole the size of Wales in the North West of Scotland where no CPT toilet facilities exist.”
Indeed, as the petition states, the situation
“does not seem representative of the kind of inclusive and accessible community that Scotland aspires to be.”
About three years ago, I was liaising with a constituent about the potential installation of a changing places toilet in Stirling station. At the time, ScotRail responded by saying that the station was an A-listed building, and that it would look at the proposal and investigate it thoroughly. However, it came back to say that insufficient resources were available because of the economic environment, so things did not progress.
I was also aware that Dundee railway station was experiencing slow progress, as was highlighted in The Courier. The Courier reported that legislation was going through Holyrood that could help to prevent the type of obstruction that was being faced by PAMIS—Promoting a More Inclusive Society—which was campaigning for the installation. Kevin Stewart, the then Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, said:
“The Scottish Government remains committed to requiring changing places toilets in certain new developments and I was happy to support the amendment to the Planning (Scotland) Bill which would do that.”
He also said that the Government was reviewing planning and building standards legislation to ensure that identification of places that need such facilities would be required. That was back in 2019; we can see how far we have come by what Jeremy Balfour said in his opening remarks.
Changing places facilities are not a luxury—they are a necessity for the individuals who require them. The Government often trumpets its commitment to our disabled population, so it beggars belief to see that it has taken its eye off the ball on this issue—not only in the past five years, but through its complete neglect of its party’s manifesto promise.
I therefore echo the sentiments of the petition that was lodged and the comments that we have heard today—that the Scottish Government must ensure that the pledged £10 million is available. I urge it to do all that it can to ensure that there is no further delay, because individuals need, and aspire to have, such facilities. Scotland should not be in the position of not having facilities for individuals who wish to travel or go about.
The decisions that we take are vitally important. The minister has an opportunity to talk about what will take place and to ensure that individuals and organisations are given the respect that they deserve, and that the commitment that was given is fulfilled. Not only are the facilities needed now, but they are, apparently, needed across the whole country, in order to ensure that people have the dignity that they wish for, and that they are given respect.
I whole-heartedly support the motion in Jeremy Balfour’s name.
17:20
As convener of the cross-party group on changing places toilets, I am delighted to participate in this evening’s debate. I thank Jeremy Balfour not just for securing the debate on his motion but for the work that he does more widely with the CPG and in Parliament to keep these issues at the forefront, as is vital.
The cross-party group was established to keep focus on an important issue. This evening, we have heard about how important the issue is to people who rely on changing places toilets, and to their families and carers. The group was largely inspired by the campaigners and by the people whose lived experience was the often patchy provision across Scotland.
What inspires me most when the cross-party group meets is our hearing not just about the experiences of many people in trying to attend hospital appointments or to get to the various supports that they need, but about the experiences of families with young children who have complex needs, who want, as all members would, to live spontaneously—for example, to go on holiday, take day trips or just go to the shops. The lack of facilities is a real challenge to living with the spontaneity that everyone deserves in their everyday life.
I pay tribute to some of the people in the cross-party group—in particular, to Angela Dulley, who has been a driving force; to PAMIS, via which secretariat support for Angela has been received; and to all the individuals and organisations who have come together and pushed issues forward.
I never thought, when I became a parliamentarian, that I would spend time looking at toilets and at potential sites for them, but that is what I now do. I must say that I have become something of a geek when it comes to what is required to make a toilet a bona fide changing places toilet. I have been delighted to see many community organisations and local authorities taking the active steps that are needed to put them in place—in particular, in Rouken Glen park in my constituency, which has allowed people to use the park more freely.
In addition, I recently visited Tyndrum—which was spoken about by Evelyn Tweed and is in her constituency—to meet Sarah Heward and the campaign team there, who are bringing together local businesses and community organisations to provide a vital facility. However, what was interesting about my visit to Tyndrum is the challenge that remains when it comes to levering in the funding that we have been speaking about—£10 million—for communities across Scotland to begin to plug gaps. Communities, local organisations, community councils and businesses are willing to put in funding themselves and to attract funding from other organisations. However, support from Government could make a crucial difference as enabling funding or as the last piece of funding to allow a project to be delivered for a community and people more widely who wish to use a facility. What is coming across loud and clear from the cross-party group and from campaigners across Scotland is that we need a sense of urgency about that money.
We have rehearsed some of the arguments that I am sure the minister will hear tomorrow when she comes to the cross-party group. There are concerns about the length of time that it will take to get the money out the door. I appreciate that such things can take time, but campaigners would like to know what will be the criteria for getting the money. How will it be given? Who will it be given to? How will it be applied for? When will it come? That information is crucial, because if we waste more time when we do not know those things and do not deliver the money, projects will stall and will become more expensive and, crucially, we will not move forward on the agenda.
The issue is key to the lives of many of our fellow Scots: it is about a basic human right and basic decency. It is time that we got the money out the door and into communities, where it is needed.
17:25
I, too, am delighted to speak in the debate. As a member of the changing places toilets cross-party group, I, too, pay tribute to Jeremy Balfour for securing parliamentary time and for the extensive work that he has done on this important issue over the years. I also thank PAMIS, Enable Scotland and Capability Scotland for their contributions to the CPG and their wider work.
Why is adequate, hygienic and accessible toilet provision so important? It is about so much more than being caught short; it is about equality and ensuring that all people can go out and live life as fully as possible and that no one is left behind. As Jeremy Balfour emphasised, changing places toilets represent the difference between inclusion and exclusion. It is about dignity and making sure that pregnant and postpartum women, women on their periods, menopausal women and people with special needs and conditions such as urinary incontinence, Crohn’s disease and colitis are not isolated and can leave their homes without anxiety, fear or embarrassment.
Providing safe and accessible spaces is important in a dignified society. That requirement also encompasses safety, privacy and protecting the rights of women and girls to single-sex toilets, which was once again emphasised in the recent employment tribunal case Ms V Abbas v ISS Facility Services Ltd.
It is about ensuring that basic human needs are met—basic human needs for privacy, safety and dignity without fear. I was struck recently by a comment in Karen Ingala Smith’s brilliant book “Defending Women’s Spaces”, in which she referred to the “urinary leash” and the restriction of movement due to lack of access to toilets. Freedom, wellbeing, quality of life and the ability to participate in public life are all facilitated by something as seemingly mundane as a toilet.
I helped to care for my two elderly parents-in-law, who both suffered from dementia. A trip out, no matter how routine, required a lot of prior planning. I know exactly which towns near my home have accessible toilets, and I know the many that do not. This topic is close to my heart, because many carers have told me that they need accessible toilets to take the people who are in their care out for visits. It is about quality of life for those who are in danger of isolation. Accessible, clean and safe toilets are a basic human need.
Over the festive period, I spoke to constituents who shared with me their concerns and feedback that public toilets are either closed or filthy. Sadly, those that are not are rare. Toilets on station platforms are accessible only when there is a guard on duty, which is a barrier that prevents people from travelling. As my colleague mentioned, Dundee railway station did not even include a changing places toilet when it was redesigned. Thanks to Scottish Conservative campaigning, PAMIS and local activism, ScotRail eventually relented.
In the north of Scotland, fully accessible toilets are harder to come by. Many of the 267 changing places toilets are concentrated in Scotland’s central belt and urban population centres. Those are, of course, much needed, but provision falls away the further north you go. As Evelyn Tweed pointed out, the issue is not just in the west of Scotland—there is a significant issue the further north you go.
I pay tribute to Councillor Lois Speed, who campaigned for and successfully secured a changing places toilet in Arbroath. Too many north-east communities do not have fully accessible toilet facilities.
In its 2021-22 programme for government, the SNP Government was right to commit, as we have heard today, £10 million to changing places toilets, but the minister, Maree Todd, has confirmed that there are no plans to allocate and distribute the funds before 2025. What is the reason for that inaction? Why is it that the SNP can go full steam ahead with its overseas office network at a cost that is just shy of £9 million but cannot deliver on a £10 million promise of funding for fully accessible toilets? Meanwhile, the UK Government has already started distributing its own £30 million fund.
The SNP Government’s implementation gap has left so many people behind: people with disabilities and special needs; carers; women; and parents with children. The SNP Government must focus on its priorities and get a move on so that all people across Scotland can access toilet facilities that are suitable for their specific needs safely and with dignity.
I call Stephen Kerr, who will be the final speaker in the open debate.
17:31
I congratulate Jeremy Balfour on bringing the motion to the chamber. I recognise his tireless efforts on behalf of disabled people in Scotland and the passion with which he has presented his motion to Parliament this evening. Jeremy Balfour is a champion for people who would otherwise be voiceless, and I am proud to serve as his party colleague and to add my voice in support of his motion.
We have got into a pretty rotten state of affairs in this parliamentary session with the SNP-Green Government when it is prepared to say things and make promises that matter a great deal to many people and then go on to blatantly renege on those promises. It is not too strong to say that that breaks the hearts of good people.
To be absolutely clear, for the record, this Government has not reneged on the commitment. The commitment in our SNP manifesto and in the 2021 programme for government was to deliver a £10 million investment in this session of Parliament. Several Conservative members have made that claim. I am sure that they do not intend to mislead Parliament and to mislead the public, but we are absolutely delivering on our commitment.
The minister says that she is delivering on her commitment, but the Government has not spent a penny of the £10 million. It is not delivering on anything when it does not spend an amount that it announced with great fanfare, which meant so much to so many people.
I have seen for myself the difference that it makes to families when they are able to have a day’s outing to some attraction or venue and know that they will be able to properly look after a family member who has profound needs. Without the use of changing places, those families would not be able to enjoy being together outside of the home. I have seen for myself what it means to parents, carers and siblings to be able to enjoy time together with all members of their family. Changing places toilets make that possible. It is transformative and not just something that is nice to have—it is indispensable and essential.
One of the most memorable days that I had when I served as the member of Parliament for Stirling was the day that I was invited to attend the opening of the new changing places facilities at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park. I cannot speak too highly of Blair Drummond safari park, which is a business that adds so much enjoyment to the lives of so many people. I met families that day who were going to be able to make good use of the new changing places facilities. That is something that I will never forget, because I could see in the faces of the parents, carers and siblings just how much it meant to visit the safari park together as a family. It was made very clear to me that there was no possible way in which that day’s outing would have been possible if it was not for changing places. Things that we might all take for granted were accessible and available to those families.
I pay tribute to PAMIS and the dedicated work that it does on behalf of profoundly disabled people and their families, especially in the area of changing places.
To govern is to choose; it has always been about priorities, and that is especially true when it comes to something as necessary as making it possible for profoundly disabled people to leave their homes, be with their families and create special times and special memories. The older we get, the more we realise how important making memories is.
I have some dear friends who had a profoundly disabled son. I saw the lengths that they were prepared to go to as parents and as siblings to make their son and brother an inclusive part of the time that they spent together, making memories as a family. Sadly, their son and brother passed away suddenly, but they have very happy memories to look back on and to draw consolation from.
Therefore, I call on the minister to make good on the commitment that the Government made to families such as my friends who are depending on the delivery of the public investment in question. I think that the minister should explain, for clarity, where the £10 million is. Has it been spent somewhere else? Does it still exist as a budget line? If the money has been reallocated, she should please tell us. It is a fundamental question. Please can we have a straight answer? Where is the £10 million? That is how strongly I feel about the issue. Let us see some energy and action from the minister on the issue. I say to her: show some leadership.
I hope that the minister will take the opportunity to make it absolutely clear that she will immediately begin to deliver on what was promised to those families. They are looking to us in this Parliament for help, and we should not, and must not, fail them.
I call the minister, Maree Todd, to respond to the debate.
17:36
I thank Mr Balfour for his on-going work to promote the importance of changing places toilets, which has allowed us time in the chamber to discuss those toilets and to educate about their importance, and for his time, which many others have noted, as co-convener, along with Mr Paul O’Kane, of the cross-party group on changing places toilets. The debate has raised a number of interesting cases and ideas, and I look forward to discussing the issue in greater detail with members of that cross-party group tomorrow evening.
A significant amount of work is required before the fund can be opened. We have heard the criticisms of the process in England, and we are keen to learn from the challenges that are faced there. We are also keen to agree with the CPG and other interested parties, such as PAMIS, on things such as scoping, eligibility and geographic distribution of the fund—that is a crucially important aspect of getting it right for Scotland—and to determine the funding model and the management of the fund. There is also a need to create material that accompanies the fund, such as application guidance, upkeep and registration material. It is not simply a case of waving a wand and putting the money into the system.
I do not think that Mr Balfour intended to mislead the Parliament in his opening speech, but there has been no “betrayal” of disabled people by the SNP Government. We made a pledge in our manifesto rather than in our programme for government for 2020-21 to invest £10 million over the current parliamentary session. That commitment is on track despite the many funding pressures that we face and that we discuss here day in, day out. I have been very clear that the fund will begin to pay out next year, at the start of 2025.
I met the minister’s predecessor to discuss the issue in the early days of the parliamentary session, when we began the cross-party group. On the issues that the minister rightly outlines relating to needing a fund that works and is prepared, and engaging on it, all of that work could have been done. We have been at this since the beginning of the parliamentary session. If the minister’s commitment is to have it done by the end of the session, why has it taken so long to get to this point, when a lot of the groundwork could have been done by now?
Minister, I can give you the time back.
I assure Paul O’Kane that the groundwork is being done. Our £10 million investment is three and a half times bigger than that of England on a population basis. As many have described, we also have to take into account the geography and rurality of Scotland, which requires taking a different approach.
The discussion about the north-west Highlands, which has come up a number of times during the debate, has illustrated exactly what some of the challenges are.
Will the minister give way?
I would like to complete this point, if Stephen Kerr will give me a moment. He had his time—he had more than four minutes.
That is not for the minister to say.
I would like to use my time to put across the Government’s point of view, if that is okay with Stephen Kerr.
I am lucky enough to have the Ullapool harbour changing places toilet not only in my constituency, but in the village that I live in in the rural north-west Highlands, and I know just how vital such facilities are to people throughout Scotland. That is just one of a number of examples from across Scotland that make the case for how such facilities can make a real difference to disabled people and their families by enabling them to go out and do things that others might take for granted, such as travelling to the islands or going on day trips. In the Highlands, we love to welcome visitors, and we are delighted that we can do so because of that facility.
Last September, I was pleased to confirm to the Scottish Parliament that we would make the £10 million changing places toilets fund available across the financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26. The Scottish Government’s policy position on changing places toilets is absolutely straightforward. In our manifesto, we committed to investing £10 million over the parliamentary session, and we are doing that. We understand how important it is to invest in increasing the number of changing places toilets. We also committed to supporting mobile changing places toilets to enable disabled people to access events and outdoor venues, and the Scottish Government looks forward to that commitment being delivered, too.
It is almost more important that Jeremy Balfour, who has tried three times to intervene, is allowed to make an intervention, because it is his debate. I simply point out to the minister that none of the £10 million has been spent and none of the good that that £10 million can do has been delivered. That is the point that Jeremy Balfour made in his speech, and it is a point that many of us—including Evelyn Tweed, who has been the only SNP member to speak in the debate—have made. Our ask of the Government is very clear. When will the £10 million be properly spent? The minister has mentioned 2025. That is a year from now.
I have made it absolutely clear that the fund will open at the start of next year. We have some groundwork to do between now and then. I look forward to meeting the cross-party group tomorrow evening to discuss matters such as how that money should be spent and how we ensure that the geography is covered. We will absolutely deliver on our commitment.
We want to make sure that the fund is fair and equitable. We need to think carefully about the eligibility criteria; forgive me if I want to work with people with lived experience in order to do that. There will be a range of views, and it is important that we gather those views and consider all of them.
For members in the chamber who are not as familiar with the work that has been done to date, it is important to highlight that the new fund builds on our previous work on the changing places toilets agenda. Members might recall—Jeremy Balfour mentioned this—that the Scottish building regulations legislation that was introduced in 2019 required the provision of changing places toilets in larger new buildings to which the public have access.
Can the minister confirm whether the £10 million of funding will be entirely within the 2025-26 budget? Is that what she is saying?
No, that is not what I am saying. If Douglas Lumsden had been listening carefully, he would know that I have said several times in the chamber, today and on previous dates, that the money will be available from the start of 2025. That means that some of the money will be available in the 2024-25 budget and some of it will be available in the 2025-26 budget.
Members will be pleased to know that, in autumn 2022, we published our “Changing Places Toilets: Planning guide”, which details practical considerations for organisations that are considering installing a changing places toilet. Scotland currently has 267 changing places toilets, which is an increase of more than 25 per cent on the 209 that were available in 2019, when we introduced the new building regulations. We are making progress on the issue; we are delivering.
The minister mentioned rurality. Will the Government consider the need to provide a good spread of changing places toilets? In my contribution, I mentioned that there is a strong focus on the central belt.
Absolutely. It is crucial that we consider the entirety of Scotland. One of the challenges that we face in Scotland is that we have a much more rural hinterland. Everyone loves to visit parts of Scotland such as the one that I live in. I want to be able to welcome everyone to that part of Scotland.
We are already delivering on our commitment to increase the number of changing places toilets. The changing places toilets fund will only help to accelerate that progress.
I have covered the Scottish Government’s position on the matter. I hope that it is absolutely crystal clear that our work in this area remains a priority, and I look forward to returning to the chamber at the appropriate time to give a further update on the fund.
In the interests of time, I thank members for their comments. As always, I will happily address individual members’ concerns through my office. My door is open. I am always keen to hear from members on the subject, which is one that is close to my heart.
On that note, I am happy to close the debate.
Meeting closed at 17:45.Air ais
Decision Time