THE COST of spending a penny in Ceredigion’s paid-for public toilets is expected to rise soon, amidst a raft of money-saving proposals backed as the council set its budget today, February 29.
In a document before Ceredigion County Council’s meeting of February 29, where councillors backed an 11.1 per cent council tax rise, increased toilet charges, from 30p to 40p was one of 70 cost-saving measures recommended.
The charge to use the facilities was increased from 20p to 30p during 2023/24.
The recommendation also included the possibility of town and community councils running toilets in their areas.
An integrated impact assessment for members said: “It is proposed to reduce the overall cost of public toilet provision to the council by £100,000 during 2024/25.
“There is currently a deficit between cost of provision (£300,000) and income from charging (£90,000). This is to be achieved by an increase in fees from 30p to 40p, changes to operational costs by tailoring the level cleaning to usage of toilets and support or transfer from town and community councils.
“The changes will contribute to the council delivering a balanced budget and is in line with the council’s income management and service cost recovery policy where services are expected to aim for full cost recovery wherever possible.
“The proposal relies on a combination of increasing income and reducing spend to reduce the current deficit, whilst maintaining provision. The changes though will not achieve full cost recovery on 2024/25.”
It says Radar keys will continue to be available, at a cost, for those who have additional needs to access public conveniences.
At the February 29 meeting, council Leader Bryan Davies said discussions on the possible running of toilets by town and community councils had taken place since the proposals were mooted just before Christmas, with an “excellent” response.
He said there was potential for local town and community councils to be able to run their facilities cheaper than the county council.
