Changing Places Toilets: Capital Funding

Juliet Campbell Excerpts

Thursday 16th July 2026 Westminster Hall

[Juliet Campbell (Broxtowe) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis) for securing the debate and for all his work in championing the rights of disabled people. He is tireless in what he does. I also put on record that Changing Places toilets were first introduced in Nottingham, where my constituency of Broxtowe is. I am proud that Nottinghamshire carries that legacy of innovation.

In previous roles, I have been a champion for disabled people, and many people have spoken to me about the need for Changing Places toilets. Many people with profound, multiple and severe disabilities and neurological conditions have complex needs, and a standard accessible toilet is insufficient. Many require a Changing Places facility equipped with a hoist, an adult-sized changing bench and adequate space for carers to provide sufficient support safely and with dignity.

Without those facilities, everyday activities that many of us take for granted become impossible—a family day out, a trip to the high street, visiting a museum, going shopping or meeting friends. Many of us take those things for granted, but those ordinary experiences are denied to too many people because they do not feel confident that their needs will be met once they leave home.

According to the Office for National Statistics, there are 10,000 disabled people in my constituency of Broxtowe who require a Changing Places facility, but there are only two such facilities there, meaning that people in Eastwood, Awsworth, Stapleford and Beeston do not have access to suitable provision. Only one of those facilities is modern enough and regularly open.

Disability rights charities and organisations across the country talk about disabled people and their carers restricting their journeys or avoiding going out altogether because they cannot find suitable toilet facilities or be certain that facilities will be open and accessible. Isolation, loneliness and poor mental health are often attributed to low social interaction, which can lead to anxiety and depression—that is what such facilities being missing can mean for disabled people. Parents of disabled children frequently report to me avoiding going out on outings altogether, not because they want their children to be excluded but because they cannot be certain that they will find a changing facility.

As a result, people become isolated from their communities and excluded from socialising. No child should be excluded from public spaces because there is nowhere suitable for them to change when necessary; no parent should have to choose between taking their child out and preserving their dignity; and no adult should be prevented from participating in social activities because the basic infrastructure that they require is absent.

The last Government rightly addressed some of this by making changes to building regulations that will increase Changing Places provision in new, large non-dwelling buildings. That is a welcome step and will improve access over the long term. However, disabled people cannot wait for a future development to solve today’s problems. Capital funding is needed now. The reality is that there are still large gaps in provision across the country, particularly in our transport corridors, town centres, tourist destinations and rural communities.

I urge the Government to look at how Changing Places provision can be embedded with current and future urban planning and within the Government’s high street strategy, with capital funding attributed to it. Accessible toilet facilities should form part of any strategy to create genuinely accessible high streets, ensuring that disabled people can confidently visit their towns, cities and public attractions without fear of being left without appropriate facilities. Capital investment in Changing Places toilets is not simply an investment in buildings or facilities themselves; it is an investment in an inclusive society where disabled people can enjoy the same opportunities, freedoms and quality of life as anyone else.