Cabinet 13/12/2011 for Information Agenda Item 6

CABINET 13/12/2011 FOR INFORMATION AGENDA ITEM 6

BOROUGH OF POOLE

ENVIRONMENT OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

10 NOVEMBER 2011

FUTURE PROVISION, SERVICE REVIEW AND VALUE FOR MONEY OF

PUBLIC TOILETS WITHIN POOLE : REPORT OF THE HEAD ENVIRONMENT & CONSUMER PROTECTION SERVICES

PART OF THE PUBLISHED FORWARD PLAN YES

STATUS - Strategic

1. PURPOSE

1.1To initiate a process that will provide Members with options to be considered in developing a more sustainable and affordable long term model of publicly accessible toilet provision in Poole.

1. DECISION(S) REQUIRED
   
2. That Membersrecommend to Cabinet that aservice led review of all public toilets be carried out, which will look to provide a mixed portfolio of publicly accessible toilet provision, which is welcoming, clean, well maintained and meets the needs of the community at times that they demand.
   
3. That Membersagree to receive and consider progress and optionsreports,on a case by case basis and recommend to Cabinet any changes to the existing Service Provision.
   
4. That Membersrecommend to Cabinet that they support the principle that any efficiencies identified and realised during the Review are re-invested in sustainable, accessible, public toilet provision.
   
5. BACKGROUND/INFORMATION

3.1Environmental and Consumer Protection Services (E&CPS) currently manage 30 public toilets (The Borough has one further privately operated public toilet at Dolphin Quays). With all toilets managed by one Service Unit this has allowed for benefits in procuring cleaning and maintenance contracts, and has allowed for co-ordination of problem resolution and customer contacts.

3.2As part of the Authorities ongoing efficiency reviews it was decided to examine if public toilets should be included in a new facilities management contractthat was being developed by the Asset Management and Property Services Unit (AMPS) thatwould encompass all office cleaning and maintenance along with public toilets. These had traditionally been tendered as separate contracts. This process is now moving forward with the aim of having a new contract in place by the 1st April 2012.

1. WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

4.1The Council currently funds and directly manages 30 public toiletslocated predominantly inparks and recreation areas, Poole Bay beaches, the town centre and other shopping areas. 6 toilets are open for 24 hours per day for general usage, and 25 toilets have separate disabled toilet facilities open 24 hours with a key obtained through a national access scheme (RADAR). A schedule of all public toilets is attached as Appendix 1.

4.2One additional public toilet is funded and operated by the Dolphin Quays development in the town centre and this has 24 hour access for both general and disabled use. This toilet is provided under a Planning Obligation.

4.3One toilet has an attendant and an entrance charge of 20p (Bus Station), and four further modern direct street opening toilets have an entrance fee of 10p to deter mis-use. All 5 chargeable toilets have free access with a RADAR key.

4.4Of the toilets not open for 24 hours each day, most are open in the Summer from 8am to 8pm (10pm at beach locations), and from 8am to 6pm in the Winter.

4.5In 2011/12 E&CPS has an approved net budget of £667,800, with the largest proportion being contractor payments for cleaning (£287,000), depreciation charges (£107,100), water (£79,900) and response repairs (£60,000).

1. HOW DO WE COMPARE?
   
2. The provision of public toilets is not a statutory service and no reporting has to be made to any particular body, with no separate accounting standards to show toilet budgets consistently or transparently. Direct comparisons with other local authorities or private sector providers are therefore difficult.
   
3. In 2009/10 some benchmarking was attempted with similar councils by contacting officers within those authorities. The results were:
   

Authority / Budget (£) / No. of toilets / Average Cost per toilet (£)
Bournemouth / 1,250,000 / 58 (now 40) / 21,552
Brighton / 1,535,000 / 47 / 32,660
Southend / 812,000 / 30 / 27,067
Torbay / 1,046,000 / 30 / 34,867
Poole / 633,000 / 30 / 21,100

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5.3The last full review of public toilets in Poole by members took place in 1999 and since that time one toilet has been re-opened (Quay Visitors), with others having increased opening hours.

1. ISSUES IDENTIFIED BY INTERNAL REVIEW THAT NEED ADDRESSING

6.1Improved value for money could be obtained with more correlation between the minor maintenance and small capital projects carried out by E&CPS and the large scale refurbishment works funded and managed through AMPS.

6.2Between 2006 and 2008 £400k was spent in replacing four toilets with the worst anti-social behaviour with a modern design (Chapel Lane, Quay Visitors, Sea View and Poole Road), this funding has now been reduced to £16k per annum for pro-active refurbishment works, and this is increasingly being diverted to supplement minor repair work. The majority of other toilets in Poole have received little major works since first built.

6.3As a toilet building deteriorates the overall running costs will increase as minor maintenance and decoration costs increase and utility equipment becomes more inefficient.Value for money of the premises will also deteriorate as usage diminishes due to the poorer quality and aesthetics.

6.4With very little funding available for large refurbishment works the future maintenance of toilet buildings will become unsustainable. Building condition will eventually become a factor in any long term decision on the future of a premise as they become unfit for use.

1. SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS IN PROGRESS

7.1 E&CPS will continue to manage the public toilets into the future under the current Service Unit structure and will act as the “client” and public face to co-ordinate and manage the service.

7.2The public toilet cleaning contract will be let as part of an overall Facilities Management contract, but will be contract managed separately by E&CPS with the office cleaning element contract managed by AMPS.

7.3The role of council engineers in maintaining public toilets will be expanded from sewage pump and large items, to encompass all maintenance with support from the AMPS minor maintenance contract.

7.4The council engineers will work closely with AMPS surveyors in assessing building condition and along with E&CPS prepare any future capital funding bids.

7.5A full review of how customer service systems can be improved has commenced which includes representation from all relevant Service Units, led by E&CPS.

7.6Work has commenced to address the need for £200k of capital funding within the Capital Programme for modernising sewage pumping stations on the promenade which are past there expected life expectancy and run a risk of failure at peak times.

7.7The Community Payback Scheme is utilised where possible to carry out minor decoration works inside and outside public toilets.

7.8Other service improvements currently being implemented or examined where resources allow:
Examining whether an in-house cleansing service would be more flexible and provide better value for money
Improved signage
Improved information on toilet locations such as tourist maps and SatLav

Obtaining funding for “greening” toilets and reducing costs (e.g. solar panels)
Advertising inside and outside buildings (subject to planning constraints)

Introducing stakeholder forums

1. PRINCIPLESOF A SUSTAINABLE TOILET PROVISIONREVIEW

To create a sustainable solution for long term provision of toilets in Poolethere needs to be a two stage service led review.:
Stage 1 will establish need and will evaluate
1/ The needs of the community and tourism;
2/ Usage levels and hours of opening;
3/ Building condition and response repair costs;
Stage 2 will find appropriate sustainable solutions that meet the identified need
4/ Different models of provision to maintain an adequate number of publicly accessible toilets throughout Poole
STAGE 1

8.11/ the needs of the community and tourism;

8.1.1We aim to provide publicly accessible toilets that reflect the needs of more vulnerable members of the community, shoppers, families and tourists alike.We need to study and understand these requirements very specifically at all locations where public toilets are currently provided and potentially in areas where they are not.

8.1.2Blue and Green Flag award criteria include quality toilet provision and there are tourism and town centre strategies that are designed to attract more visitors into Poole. Central government and the Borough of Poole have strategies to encourage a healthier lifestyle which will attract people to Poole’s parks and open spaces.

8.1.3Poole is a developing town with large areas of new development that may change the areas that people visit, and change the demand on nearby infrastructure.

8.1.4A full register of external influences and demands on each public toilet in Poole will form part of the service review, and consultation with residents, businesses and stakeholders will take place.

8.22/ Usage levels and hours of opening

8.2.1E&CPS purchased a small number of people counters in 2010. This is the same technology that measures footfall in retail premises. There are no cameras or recordings involved. We have gathered information on the number of users at various toilets over short periods and examples were:

Location / Season / Daily Usage / Annual cost to run whole facility (£)
Toilet A - men / Summer / 1,500 / 30,000
Toilet B – ladies / Summer / 1,500 / 30,000
Toilet C – men & ladies / Winter / <20 / 9,500
Toilet D – ladies / Winter / <20 / 18,000

8.2.2More counting of users of facilities needs to be undertaken over longer periods to obtain more robust trends that can be used to examine if a toilet’s opening hours meet demand.

8.33/ Building condition and response repair costs

8.3.1A number of public toilets are housed in deteriorating buildings that cannot be sustained without major investment. As a building gets older unless it receives preventative maintenance its condition will lead to increased response repairs and utility costs.

8.3.2AMPS carry out 5 year detailed assessments of all public buildings to assess the urgency for major refurbishment works. This funding covers all corporate assets around the Borough and pressure on this budget is high. Consequently investment in public toilets has been prioritised below other requirements.

8.3.3Improvements have been made in directing any small preventative maintenance to try and reduce costs by stopping vandalism (such as installing security gates), but these works have no effect on the general deterioration of a building.

8.3.4All day to day maintenance in public toilets will be commissioned by council engineers from 2012 and this should bring more expertise into the quality of work carried out and the quality checks carried out on contractors.

8.3.5The building condition and maintenance and refurbishment costs will need to be taken into account when reviewingthe long term sustainability of a particular public toilet and an estimate of fully modernising each building will be obtained.
STAGE 2

8.4Using the data and information acquired in Stage 1 of the review each toilet will be examined on a case by case basis and recommendations based on the following criteria will be brought forward:

8.4.1Continue with the existing provision;

8.4.2Make changes to provision based on need (such as opening hours or closure);

8.4.3Are alternative funding streams available for public toilet provision (such as Planning Obligations and Community Infrastructure Levy);

8.4.4Can alternatives to local authority provision be obtained;

8.4.5How can savings be derived, and re-invested, in a sustainable long term provision of publicly accessible toilets.

8.5Different models of provision to maintain an adequate number of publicly accessible toilets throughout Poole

8.5.1Use of Community Infrastructure Levy and Planning Obligations

A flexible approach with the private sector could include toilets provided through Developer Contributions, Planning Obligations or payment to a private company to run a public toilet on behalf of the council. In Poole we have examples where Dolphin Quays had to provide and operate a public toilet as it was built on land previously taken by a council run public toilet. When the Central Park café was refurbished and a new lease signed, changes were made to incorporate the public toilets inside the café with the council part funding the cleaning and maintenance, which has reduced maintenance and vandalism.

8.5.2Strategic Council Projects

The Council is currently developing a Beach Master Plan and is reviewing how Upton House can be made more sustainable in the future. It may provide an opportunity for alternative provision of public toilets and investment in some of the ageing infrastructure. ECPS officers are active participants in both reviews. A toilet service review will need to link closely with these council reviews, goals and ambitions.

8.5.3Council Buildings

There are a number of Council owned buildings around the Borough that are located close to publicly maintained toilet provision. With improved signage and possibly some internal building works it may be possible to widen the use of the facilities in Council owned buildings and enhance or replace existing toilet provision. Brighton Council advertises availability to toilets at all libraries and leisure centres along with council offices. In Poole we had a successful temporary arrangement to divert users from a fire damaged toilet in Canford Heath to the nearby library.

8.5.4Community Toilet Scheme

This is a scheme that has been adopted at a number of councils around the country. It involves commercial premises such as shops, restaurants and bars placing a sign in their windows to invite the public to use their toilet facilities. This negates the need for a public toilet in the vicinity of the scheme. The incentive for the private business usually comes from a reduction in their business rates or a direct payment from the Council. There are several national companies operating in Poole that participate in these schemes in different parts of the country and at several locations some are within 200 metres of our own public toilets.

8.5.5Community Groups taking responsibility for provision of a local facility

A review will investigate the potential for community involvement in the provision of toilet facilities, or in the event of a public toilet being considered non-economic or poor value for money, it may be possible for a community or group organisationto consider taking on the facility for certain periods (such as weekends or for certain sporting events).

1. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

9.1E&CPS have £16k for programmed maintenance in their 2011/12 revenue budget. A proportion of this budget will be vired into the 2012/13 programmed maintenance revenue budget, and this will then fund an officer post for one year to carry out the review and bring forward recommendations to members.

9.2If required, a “spend to save” bid from identified savings will be made to continue the post into 2013/14 to introduce the recommendations and embed any new procedures.

9.3Without agreement and a long term strategy for public toilets an increasing strain will be put of existing revenue budgets and the current service will become unaffordable.

9.4Work has commenced on including £200k of capital funding in the Capital Programme for modernising sewage pumping stations.

1. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

10.1The option for Councils to provide public toilets was made in the public Health Act of 1936, although it has never become a statutory function.

10.2The Disability Discrimination Act of 1996 specified that service providers make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled access to services.

10.3Since 2006 local government has had a Disability Equality Duty to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people.

10.4There is a British Standard 6465:2006 regarding the number of toilets required for expected usage but are only guidelines for new build properties.

1. RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

11.1Failure to address the long term sustainability of public toilets may result in an unplanned closure due to building conditions deteriorating.

11.2Failure to find alternative ways of funding of public toilets may result in the current number of local authority provided public toilets becoming unaffordable.

11.3As buildings deteriorate the level of complaints and public dissatisfaction increases as poor decoration deters users and appears to make toilets look unclean and uncared for.

1. EQUALITIES IMPLICATIONS

12.125 of the 30 public toilets operated by the Council provide separate facilities for the disabled with free entry using the national key access scheme (RADAR).

12.2Some of the disabled facilities provided would not meet current design standards for new buildings, where more space is required for carers and helpers.

12.3There is a mile of beachfront with public toilet facilities that have no disabled access (Flaghead Chine, Canford Cliffs and Branskome Chine Promenade). Currently blue flag criteria requires toilet facilities should be nearby, but there is a risk that criteria may change in the future to specify toilets should also have separate disabled facilities.

12.4In 2006 Help the Aged commissioned a report called “Nowhereto Go” which led to a conclusion that the fear of being unable to find a toilet at short notice means older people do not leave their home as much as they would like.

12.5Separate baby change facilities that can be used by both men and ladies are available in 7 public toilets, 9 have facilities in ladies toilets only and 14 toilets have no baby changing facilities at all.

12.6New style public toilets with direct opening doors to the street of which Poole has 4 facilities, deter anti-social behaviour and are gender neutral allowing for males, females and trans gender people to use the facilities of their choice.

12.7Public Toilets were included in the E&CPS equality impact assessment , and public toilets are managed by the principles set out in the Council policy “Fairness for All”

1. CONCLUSIONS

13.1The Council currently operates a number of public toilets at a low cost compared with others. However, the buildings are deteriorating and funding is limited so a full review of each facility needs to be carried out to find a long term affordable solution to ensure access can be provided to publicly accessible toilet facilities in Poole.

13.2By initiating a review based on the criteria specified in this report Members

will have the opportunity to consider the future service delivery on a case by case basis supported by detailed intelligence and options. In turn this will enable funds to be directed towards the improvement of priority facilities.

Report Author: Shaun Robson, Head of Environmental and Consumer Protection Services

Contact officer: David Rickards, Principal Officer, Environmental and Consumer Protection Services – Telephone 261744

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