Protect our loos!

Josh Babarinde MP, Eastbourne born and bred is campaigning to protect our public toilets. 

Due to years of cuts from the Conservative Government, our local council is forced to make cuts to make ends meet. 

But Josh is fighting to keep access to public loos in Eastbourne. You can sign his petition and read his full statement below. 

"I'm deeply concerned that years of underfunding by the last Conservative government have left councils like Eastbourne, and many others, unable to fund key services for our community.

Eastbourne Borough Council used to receive something called the Revenue Support Grant from the Government, which once stood at £10 million per year to help pay for local services.

After years of Government cuts, today that figure is £0.
We are now seeing the consequences of these Government cuts, which include a consultation over public toilets across our town.
As a local lad, I do not want to see toilet provision reduced across town - they're so important for so many in Eastbourne, and for tourists too.

Here's what I'm doing to fight make sure locals and visitors have access to toilets out and about in Eastbourne:

1. Fighting for Government funding for toilets: Government must properly fund our town to have the services we need. That's why I stood up in the House of Commons on 5th September and pushed the Government to honour the £20 million Towns Fund  commitment to Eastbourne. I also urged the Chancellor in the Commons on 3rd September to support us with a solution to the homelessness issue costing the council so much, so that council funding can be unlocked to spend on toilets and other local services we need. I will keep up the pressure.
   
2. Campaigning to make toilets legally required: The last and current Governments have not considered public toilets a 'statutory service' i.e. it's not legally required to provide them. I think this is wrong. I've written to the Deputy Prime Minister, urging her to put public toilets on a legal footing, backed by a 'Public Toilet Fund' that Liberal Democrats have been calling for to ensure that this is funded.
   
3. Supporting a local community toilet scheme: In the meantime, I've approached a number of local businesses and community organisations to ask them whether they'd be prepared to step up and open up their toilets to the public. Many other towns have similar council-run schemes to boost toilet provision (some places locally already do this), and so should we. I'm getting some positive responses so far and I'll keep you posted."

What can you do to help?

It's going to take a whole-community effort to protect our loos. Here's how you can help:

• Sign my petition urging the Government to give our community the cash we need to protect our loos below
• Recommend a community loo - If you know a business or community organisation that might be willing to open their toilet to the public, I'd love to hear form you about it.
• Have your say on the council's savings consultation here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/EBCsavings/