§ 63. Dame Irene Wardasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he will make a statement on the use of turnstiles in public conveniences.
Dr. HillReturns from 1,454 local authorities—95 per cent. of the total— show that of their 12,000 public lavatories only 670 were equipped with turnstiles; of these, 525 were in women's and 145 in men's lavatories.
In the last five years people have been trapped on at least 150 occasions, and on 12 of these people were injured.
In the same period turnstiles broke down on something over 2,200 times; nearly all of these were caused by the use of bent pennies.
The cost of replacing existing turnstiles would be of the order of £ 150,000. There would also be an appreciable loss of revenue.
24WI am satisfied that turnstiles are unsatisfactory and I am making permanent the temporary ban on the granting of loan sanction for their installation. Further, I am asking local authorities to remove existing turnstiles as soon as they can.