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Capital funding for Changing Places toilets

Capital funding for changing places toilets

Changing Places toilets

Changing places toilets are specifically designed for people with multiple and complex disabilities who cannot use standard accessible toilets designed for independent use by an individual. They include height­-adjustable, adult­-sized changing benches, ceiling track hoists and enough space for multiple carers.

There are currently 2,665 active Changing Places Toilets registered in the UK. This is an increase from around 140 in 2007.

An interactive map providing information on how to access each facility is available on the Changing Places Toilets website.

The Changing Places Campaign

The Changing Places Consortium is a group of not-for-profit organisations and individuals that campaigns for Changing Places toilets to be installed in all big public spaces in the UK. Further information on the campaign is available on its website at: How did the Changing Places campaign begin?

The campaign estimates that around 250,000 people in the UK are potential users of Changing Places toilets (PDF). It also explains the importance of Changing Places toilets:

Without a suitable changing bench, many disabled people have to be laid on the floor to be changed. This is undignified, unhygienic and puts assistants at risk of injury. In the absence of a hoist, assistants are again put at risk when forced to manually transfer a disabled person who is unable to self-transfer between a wheelchair and WC.

The absence of toilet and changing facilities means that some disabled people are often limited in terms of activities available to them, or even prevented from going out altogether. They may also find themselves compromising their health and dignity – or that of the people assisting them – by using unsuitable facilities. CP toilets can vastly improve people’s quality of life, allowing disabled people and their assistants to stay out for longer and participate in more activities.

Changing Places Toilet Awareness Day is held on 19 July each year and is intended to celebrate the achievements of the campaign to date and raise awareness of the “life changing difference Changing Places toilets make to people’s lives.”

Further information is available on the campaign’s website.

Building regulations

In 2019, the then-Conservative government ran a consultation on Changing Places toilets. The government response to the consultation was published in July 2020.

Following the consultation, the government announced that the provision of Changing Places toilets in new public buildings above a certain size would be made compulsory. This was brought into force on 1 January 2021 under amendments made to building regulations in Approved Document M: Access to and use of buildings, Volume 2 – Buildings other than dwellings.

Capital funding

Department for Transport funding

In November 2018, the Department for Transport announced it was partnering with Muscular Dystrophy UK to expand the provision of Changing Places toilets at service stations. Under the programme, £2.5 million of funding was provided to install Changing Places toilets across the transport network in the early 2000s. The installations were primarily at motorway service stations, with a small number on the rail network. 

Changing Places toilets fund

In July 2021, the then-Conservative government launched a £30.5 million Changing Places toilets fund to help local authorities increase the number of Changing Places toilets in England. The announcement stated that every local authority that opted into the programme would be able to receive funding equivalent to the average cost of installing at least one Changing Places toilet in their area.

In the first round of funding, £23.5 million was allocated to 191 local authorities in England. In the second round of funding, the remaining £7 million was allocated to 64 local authorities. In total the funding supported the installation of 483 new Changing Places toilets.

The Changing Places toilets fund closed on 31 March 2025. In response to a petition in December 2025 the government said “local authorities are best placed to assess and manage toilet provision” and highlighted the funding provided to local government:

Although [the Changing Places toilet programme] has ended, changes to building regulations have ensured continuation by making it mandatory to include Changing Places facilities in new public buildings (or those undergoing major redevelopment) that fall above a certain size threshold. This aims to significantly increase the availability of these vital facilities over time and makes accessibility a mainstream consideration in how we plan and build our public spaces.

Local authorities are best placed to assess and manage toilet provision. However, we recognise the challenges they face and have taken steps to support them. At the 2025 spending review, the Government committed over £5 billion in new grant funding over the next three years for essential local services. In addition, the Government maintains 100% mandatory business rates relief for separately assessed public toilets, reducing ongoing costs for councils and supporting the continued development and operation of these vital facilities.

A similar argument was made by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Nesil Caliskan, in June 2026 in response to a debate on public toilet provision for people with stomas (cc483-484WH).

Reading list

Press and campaign materials

BBC News, Mum calls for Changing Places toilet access in Stafford town centre, 10 June 2026

BBC News, York mum calls for better changing facilities in disabled toilets, 22 April 2026

ITV News, Fighting for their children's dignity - parents calling for specialised changing areas in hospitals, 5 November 2025

Euan’s Guide, Changing Places, Changing Lives: Why Changing Places Toilets Are Vital - And Still Too Rare, 8 July 2026

London School of Economics (School for Social Care Research), Changing Places facilities: Scoping the issues and evidence, 2025

This magazine, Study reveals accessible toilet outlook is “grim” for disabled visitors to British tourist hotspots, 1 August 2019

Changing Places Toilets

Parliamentary materials

Parliamentary questions

Hospitals: Disability (UIN 106623, 28 January 2026)

Asked: Data held on accessible and Changing places toilets in hospitals.

Answer: No central government data on Changing places toilets in hospitals. Changing places toilet locations can be found on the Changing places website. Hospitals have a requirement under Building Regulations, Part M to provide suitable sanitary accommodation. Whether to  include hoists is the remit of local NHS organisations. 

Public Lavatories: Disability (UIN 105419, 21 January 2026)

Asked: Introduce a statutory requirement in Building Regulations for the provision of Changing Places toilets in new developments.

Answer: No plans to require Changing places toilets in new developments. Statutory guidance accompanying the Building Regulations (Approved Document M  Vol.2 paragraphs 5.6 and 5.7) includes provision for Changing Places toilets in new non-dwelling developments.

Public Lavatories: Disability (UIN 98600, 17 December 2025)

Asked: Impact of changing places toilets in public spaces on dignity and wellbeing of people with complex disabilities

Answer: Mentions that government and local policy aligns with the Public Sector Equality Duty. Mentions £30.5 million Changing places toilet programme, which has helped install 483 new disabled toilets across 220 local authority areas. The programme closed on 31 March 2025.

Mentions the statutory guidance which accompanies the Building Regulations (Approved Document M Volume 2) which make provisions for Changing Places facilities in new buildings.

Debates

Churches: Disabled Access, 18 June 2026 | House of Commons | 787 cc977-8

Transport Accessibility for Disabled People, 26 March 2026 | House of Commons | 783 cc464-492

Changing Places Toilets, 22 Jul 2025 | House of Commons chamber | 771 c820

Committee reports

Transport Committee, 1st Report – Access denied: rights versus reality in disabled people's access to transport, HC 770, 20 March 2025

Accompanying government response, HC 931, 13 June 2025

Petitions

UK Parliamentary petitions, Mandate Installation of Changing Places facilities in all Public Buildings, closes 1 January 2027

Early day motions

Changing Places toilets (8 December 2025 | House of Commons | 2449 (session 2024-26))

Primary sponsor: McMurdock, James

That this House notes the continued lack of Changing Places toilet facilities in many towns and public venues across the UK; recognises that Changing Places toilets provide essential equipment for disabled people to comfortably access public spaces in their communities; acknowledges that the absence of these facilities forces individuals to be changed on the floors of standard disabled toilets and prevents many disabled people from going out altogether, undermining dignity and equality; and calls on the Government to ensure that Changing Places toilets are included in major public buildings, transport hubs and town-centres, and to work with local authorities to deliver comprehensive national coverage so that disabled people can participate equally in society