Changing Places Toilets Scotland Fund Notes of Interest

Introduction

The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the number of Changing Places Toilets (CPT) in Scotland to meet the human rights of disabled people who cannot use a standard accessible toilet. A £10 million Fund is currently being developed to help achieve this, with the aim of launching in the summer of 2025. It is expected that this will fund around 150 additional Changing Places Toilets across Scotland.

As one of the Changing Places Toilet Consortium members campaigning for more CPTs, Scottish Charity PAMIS is supporting the fund development work. To help inform this, PAMIS ran a survey seeking views from both people who would benefit from more Changing Places Toilets and organisations which may be interested in applying for funds to have a CPT in the future.

The survey has now closed but you can note your interest in applying to the Fund when it opens on the next page in order to receive further details when available.

Further information on the fund including who can apply, how much funding can be applied for, the application process and launch date is not available at this point, but if you submit a note of interest you will receive information when available.

Where are more Changing Places toilets needed?

Insight research carried out by the Changing Places toilet UK Consortium shows a need to improve the geographical spread of Changing Places toilets across Scotland as well as increase provision in certain sectors and venue types. In a recent survey for the UK Changing Places toilet consortium, country parks/open spaces, tourist attractions and transport networks were the top three locations respondents want to see future provision. The Changing Places Toilet Scotland Annual Report produced by PAMIS, provides further data and evidence on the geographical areas and venue types currently lacking in provision.

The funding will work alongside the existing statutory requirements for Changing Places toilets in Scotland as outlined in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, which mandates that certain new developments must include a Changing Places toilet. In addition, the building standards technical handbook 2019 for non-domestic buildings, clause 3.12.13, introduced guidance on the provision of CPTs in order to meet the requirement in the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004. The fund will not cover developments that are legislated for through these measures. The fund focus will be on retrofitting CPTs in existing buildings and developing new standalone CPTs to address areas/venue types currently underserved.

By increasing the number of CPTs, disabled people, their families and carers will be more able to take part in leisure and other activities outside the house, be better able to enjoy outdoor spaces, have increased wellbeing and fun, feel more connected to other people, and have increased dignity and confidence when going out.

Further information on CPTs can be found here: https://www.changing-places.org/