A deputation was received from Nazarella Scianguetta
and a group of residents on the subject of
disabled accessibility and public toilets. It was noted that
the applicants for the deputation had been sent details of the new
draft Public Toilets Strategy & Action Plan which had been
presented to the Health & Wellbeing Board in September 2025.
This document was expected to be presented to the Cabinet for
approval in February 2026.
In introducing the deputation, Nazarella Scianguetta
explained that she was attending the meeting to advocate for those
living with disabilities and impairments in Haringey and made the
following points:
- That
the availability of accessible public toilets was not a luxury but
a basic human right essential to the dignity, independence and
inclusion of people with disabilities and impairments.
- That
the social model of disability should be used when looking at how
the Council’s policies impacted on people with disabilities
and impairments. Therefore, when public toilets were not
accessible, it was not the impairment that excluded people but the
environment and the policies that failed to accommodate
everyone.
- Only
40% of public toilets in Haringey were fully accessible, with the
remaining 60% lacking basic facilities such as step-free access and
grab rails.
- As a consequence of
this, people with disabilities and impairments in
Haringey were forced to plan outings around the availability of
accessible public toilets or to avoid some public spaces
altogether. People impacted included elderly residents and families
with autistic children.
- The
Council had a particular responsibility to ensure that leaseholders
to buildings that it owned provided accessible public toilets. This
should include active monitoring and enforcement.
- The
Council should also emphasise the importance of businesses to meet
legal obligations on accessible public toilets in relation to
buildings that the Council does not own.
Cllr das Neves, Cabinet Member for Health, Social
Care & Wellbeing, responded to the deputation, commenting that
the new draft Public Toilets Strategy & Action Plan had been
co-produced with a campaign group called Loos for Haringey who also
worked on the Toilets Strategy for London. As part of the
preparation of the draft strategy, there had been engagement with a
range of groups and a public survey. She said that the observations
from the deputation would be fed into the co-production work with
Loos for Haringey and that there would be a further opportunity for
public comment when the draft strategy was put to Cabinet in early
2026. Cllr das Neves added that there were three ‘Changing
Places’ accessible toilets in the Borough and the aspiration
was to increase the number of these.
Members of the Panel then asked questions about the
presentation from the deputation:
- Cllr
O’Donovan asked about the community toilet scheme which
involved private businesses such as cafes and restaurants allowing
non-customers to use their toilets. Nazarella Scianguetta responded
that the disabled and impaired community had lost trust in service
providers to allow them to use their facilities.
- Cllr
Connor asked what influence the Council had on this issue as
landlords of leasehold businesses. Will Maimaris, Director for
Public Health, noted that there were different types of
arrangements with both community and commercial relationships. He
explained that licensing arrangements allowed for inspections but
that the Council’s influence and resources was limited. The
draft strategy acknowledged that there was an overall lack of
toilet provision in the Borough but also a lack of accessible
toilets and so it was necessary to work with partners to improve
this.
- Cllr
das Neves commented that this was a challenging environment and
that the Council did not have extensive legal powers or a large
resource to address this issue, but that the new strategy had a
multi-pronged approach to tackle the different ways that residents
could access public toilets.
- Cllr
Peacock spoke about the lack of accessible toilets at Tottenham
Retail Park and said that the management of the Retail Park had not
responded to her attempts to engage with them on this matter. Cllr
das Neves said that there had been discussions about future
planning policies for new developments in the Borough that would
have accessibility built into the plans.
- Nazarella Scianguetta emphasised the importance of valuing
inclusion across society and of the Council using its powers and
influences to improve accessibility in the Borough.
Cllr Connor thanked Nazarella Scianguetta for her
presentation and to the officers and Cabinet Member for taking
these comments for consideration ahead of the new draft Public
Toilets Strategy & Action Plan being brought forward to the
Cabinet in early 2026.