Scarborough Council set to approve £280,000 project for expanding provision of accessible disabled toilets

If the plan is approved by Scarborough Council’s cabinet, the authority will allocate £120,000 of funding while £160,000 will come from a Government grant for creating more changing places facilities.

Changing places toilets are for the “exclusive use of people with profound disabilities” and they differ from a traditional accessible cubicle “in that they are larger and have additional equipment”.

The equipment includes a height-adjustable adult changing bench and basin and an electrically operated hoist.

The changing places facilities are set to be located at Whitby Marina, Scarborough North Bay and Filey Foreshore. The locations have been chosen as the lack of suitable facilities nearby “currently acts as a significant barrier for changing places toilet users”.

A report prepared for the upcoming cabinet meeting on Tuesday, November 15 states that thousands of people with “profound and multiple learning disabilities, as well other disabilities that severely limit mobility, cannot use standard accessible toilets”.

The report adds that the facilities will have space to enable assistance from one or two carers, whereas standard accessible toilets do not provide changing benches or hoists and most are too small to accommodate more than one person.

“Without changing places toilets, the person with disabilities is put at risk, and families are forced to risk their own health and safety by changing their loved one on a toilet floor”, states the report.

Earlier this year the council was criticised by the mother of a disabled child regarding a lack of accessible facilities, suggesting at the time that “accessibility is clearly not a priority”.

The cabinet is being asked to approve an exemption to the council’s contract procedure rules to allow the authority to procure the works required within this financial year.

The council has obtained a quote for the delivery of the Scarborough and Filey facilities from a local contractor which amounts to £144,000. For the Whitby scheme, the authority is proposing to purchase a modular building from Danfo for circa £57,000.

Cllr Tony Randerson, the cabinet member for neighbourhoods, presented his work report to a full meeting of the authority on Monday, November 7, stating: “Officers and I have been working on proposals to expand the network of changing places toilets throughout our borough… for the exclusive use of people with the most profound disabilities and challenging medical needs.”