Sadiq Khan has been pressed over a ‘delay’ to the introduction of more toilets on the London Underground. The Mayor of London has set aside in this year’s Greater London Authority (GLA) a budget of £3 million for new facilities.
In February, Mr Khan told MyLondon that Transport for London (TfL) officials have started ‘not just doing the feasibility work, but also refurbishing those toilets we already have’. He added that bosses are looking at installing toilets at those stations that are ‘busier’, but also stops where they could be built sooner.
Caroline Russell AM raised the issue during Mayor’s Question Time at the London Assembly on Friday (March 15), stating that there had been a ‘delay’ to the publishing of a feasibility study promised by officials. She said: “Londoners cannot wee in a feasibility study.
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“While I appreciate the naturally slow pace of public policy, this latest delay on the long-promised feasibility study is still unacceptable and throws yet another roadblock into an already prolonged campaign to get more toilets on the TfL network.
“I appreciate the Mayor’s acknowledgment that three to five new TfL toilets a year is just not enough, and I will continue to press on in the campaign for more toilets. Londoners deserve to know exactly what their Mayor is doing on this critical issue.”
The Mayor explained that ‘good progress has been made’ on the feasibility study, and that TfL now plans to ‘publish the full study in the summer’.
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It comes after the Green Party’s candidate for the capital’s mayoralty, Zoë Garbett, told MyLondon that the cash set aside is not enough to adequately improve toilet availability on the network. She said that Green Party Assembly Members have been pushing for £20 million instead.
But, Cllr Garbett added that she believes there is ‘a need for more than that, anyway’. She called Mr Khan’s funding ‘a start’.
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