Provision, accessibility, and cost of public toilets
Case reference FOI2026/01400
Received 7 July 2026
Published 28 July 2026
Request
I am writing to request information regarding the provision, accessibility, and cost of public toilets maintained or operated by your local authority.
Please provide the following information for each calendar year from 2016 to 2026 inclusive (with the 2026 figure representing the data current to the date of this request).
Questions:
1 – Total Provision: How many public toilets did the local authority maintain, operate, or directly fund (including those operated via third-party contractors or parish partnerships on behalf of the council) in each calendar year?
2 – Breakdown of Accessibility & Facilities: Within the total figures provided for each year, please break down:
a) How many were free to use vs. how many required a fee/charge.
b) How many offered full toilet facilities (defined as containing at least one toilet bowl/cubicle) vs. how many were urinal-only facilities.
3 – Pricing: What was the maximum price charged for a single use at any of your public toilets in each calendar year?
Response
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
I am writing to request information regarding the provision, accessibility, and cost of public toilets maintained or operated by your local authority.
Please provide the following information for each calendar year from 2016 to 2026 inclusive (with the 2026 figure representing the data current to the date of this request).
Questions:
1 – Total Provision: How many public toilets did the local authority maintain, operate, or directly fund (including those operated via third-party contractors or parish partnerships on behalf of the council) in each calendar year?
2016/17 – 18 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
2017/18 – 18 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
2018/19 – 18 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
2019/20 – 18 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
2020/21 – 18 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
2021/22 – 17 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
2022/23 – three toilets were closed following a public consultation, leaving 14 public toilet facilities available. However, please note that the same 2022 review also approved the withdrawal of council grant funding to the public toilet facilities in Ash, Ripley and Shere – whilst these toilets remain open, they became the responsibility of the parishes to fund and maintain directly themselves and are no longer looked after by Guildford Borough Council. Therefore, the actual number of public toilet facilities maintained and funded directly by Guildford Borough Council in 2022/23 was 11.
2023/24 – 11 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
2024/25 – 11 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
2025/26 – 11 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
2026/27 – 11 maintained and funded by Guildford Borough Council.
Information about the available public toilets in the area is also available on our website and can be found via the following link:
https://www.guildford.gov.uk/publictoilets
2 – Breakdown of Accessibility & Facilities: Within the total figures provided for each year, please break down:
à How many were free to use vs. how many required a fee/charge.
Guildford Borough Council’s toilets have always been free to use and have never required a fee/charge to access.
à How many offered full toilet facilities (defined as containing at least one toilet bowl/cubicle) vs. how many were urinal-only facilities.
Information on the facilities offered at our toilets is published on our website and is available at the following link:
https://www.guildford.gov.uk/publictoilets
Please note that our toilets have both separate male and female toilet facilities on offer and all toilets have full toilet facilities – none are urinal only.
3 – Pricing: What was the maximum price charged for a single use at any of your public toilets in each calendar year?
N/A – Guildford Borough Council does not charge for use of any of our toilets.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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