FOI Request - Sanitary Facilities in Schools
Request 101003845363
Freedom of Information request relating to The School Premises (General Requirements and Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 1967. For ease, the relevant sections of the regulations for the purposes of this FOI are,
15.-(1) In every school sanitary accommodation shall be provided for the pupils by appliances on a scale not less than that specified in Table VIII: Provided that in every school which is not designed exclusively for girls half the accommodation shall be for boys and not more than one third of the appliances for boys shall be water closets and the remainder shall be urinals, each 2 foot length of urinal being counted as one appliance for the purposes of Table VIII.
(2) In every school providing for pupils beyond stage P IV in the sanitary accommodation for girls there shall be suitable provision for the disposal of sanitary towels.
(3) In every school every sanitary appliance or group of sanitary appliances shall be situated near to a wash basin or wash basins.
(4) In every school every water closet shall be provided with a lockable door and with a partition sufficient to secure privacy.
I'd like to ask;
Are all schools compliant with the above regulations in relation to sanitary facilities?
If the answer is no, why not? And at what point did the council decide not to follow regulations that have been in place since 1967?
Response 19-09-2025
1. No – we do not provide urinals in some schools.
Why:
The “School Premises (General Requirements and Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 1967” set out minimum standards, including specific requirements for urinals in boys' toilets. However, these regulations are widely acknowledged as outdated and not reflective of current educational, social, or safety needs. A 2018 Scottish Government report into a consultation on the requirement to update the Scottish Premises (General Requirements and Standards)(Scotland) Regulations 1967 (https://www.gov.scot/publications/updating-school-premises-general-requirements-standards-scotland-regulations-1967-analysis/ found broad agreement that many provisions—including those on sanitary accommodation—needed revision. Although the legislation is yet to be updated it is expected that Scottish Government will do so.
The Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS) has long advocated for improvements in school toilet design. https://www.cypcs.org.uk/faq/what-can-i-do-about-the-toilets-at-my-school-2/ Their research and campaigns emphasise: the right to privacy and health; the need for safe, clean, and accessible toilets and concerns over bullying, lack of privacy, and poor maintenance in traditional toilet layouts. Moray Council agree with this analysis.
When:
Since 2012 (with construction of Elgin Academy) secondary school designs for new pupil toilet facilities in Moray have delivered open plan designs with full height cubicles with closet toilets (no urinals) – this design approach reduces bullying and improves supervision outside the classroom. The requirements meet the Building Standards Technical Handbook requirements for health and safety of occupants, accessibility, hygiene and convenience of use as well as the benefits highlighted by the CYPCS.
2. Compliant
3. Compliant
4. Compliant