Public toilets are under threat of closure in Cornwall, and Scott wants to see them remain open through a change in finance and law.
Like shops, public toilets are subject to Non-domestic rate payments, otherwise known as business rates. This, on top of maintenance costs and water bills, means they are not cheap for local authorities to run.
Scott is therefore calling for public toilets to be exempted from business rates to relieve parish and town councils, and Cornwall Council, of this financial burden. On top of this, Scott is calling for them to be made statutory public services, which means they cannot be closed. As a combination, it would mean that councils would have to provide public toilets, but at a reduced cost, and therefore avoid councils introducing entrance fees, levies on car parking, or rises in council tax.
Scott has written to Prime Minister David Cameron and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clarke, stressing the potential crisis facing Cornwall if public toilets close, as well as asking for consideration of the removal of business rates and introduction of statutory requirements.
