Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a statutory duty to provide public conveniences.

Adequate provision of public conveniences is an important issue which local authorities are best suited to manage, given their firm understanding of the needs of their communities.

Our English Devolution White Paper, published before Christmas, sets out how we will unleash power from Whitehall back into communities, with local government having a much greater ability to make decisions based on local priorities. Similarly, the Local Government Finance Settlement 2025 to 2026 published in November 2024 outlines how councils will have more financial certainty and flexibility when making decisions for their areas.