Public loos a drain on income, says town council

A report says the council has lost money on the toilets for five out of the last seven years

Public toilets are a drain on a town council's finances and action is needed to ensure their sustainability, according to a report.

Whitby Town Council manages public toilets on New Quay Road, Pier Road, West Cliff, the Abbey Headland and in the Market Place. It also runs the toilets in Ruswarp.

A report to the authority said despite an annual income from the toilets of between £179,000 and £228,000, it had made a loss from running them for five out of the last seven years.

Councillors will consider the report and its recommendations at a meeting later.

According to the report by a special working group, the town council had "expended an above income sum of £85,923" between 2018 and 2024.

The group was established to investigate the "financial and contractual arrangements concerning the operation and maintenance" of the toilets overseen by the council.

It found the contract conditions with operator Danfo to be "confusing and ambiguous", though it emphasised there was "no evidence for, or suggestion of, malfeasance".

Danfo, which operates public toilets in the UK and internationally, has been contacted for a comment, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The cost of using the toilets was increased by 10p in 2024

The working group said that the toilets "have never made a profit, they have never been cost neutral".

It also found the contract sum with Danfo "barely covers the cost of day-to-day operation and cleaning of the toilets".

Last year, the fee for using public toilets was increased from 40p to 50p following a prediction that water costs would rise.

The report stated most maintenance was the town council's responsibility, with Danfo only responsible for some minor repairs and agreement was needed about the "extent and limitations of each party's responsibility".

In addition, it also recommended changes to profit sharing and improving internet connections and the reliability of card payment processes.

Other actions include making it more difficult for people to evade payment and initiating structural repairs to West Cliff and New Quay Road toilets to "include alterations to the flushing systems to save water".

It said the recommendations would take six months to implement and data should be monitored to identify overheads, areas of high expenditure and waste.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.