Public toilets overseen by Stirling Council will soon have sanitary bins for men in a bid to support those with incontinence and other health issues.
In December 2023 the council decided to look at providing male hygiene facilities within public toilets against the background of the Boys Need Bins campaign nationally.
Now its community wellbeing and housing committee has formally approved the plans to provide the bins, in a bid to support men dealing with incontinence, and to protect their dignity and comfort in public spaces.
Council officers said: “Facilities management currently clean and replenish toilets in most corporate buildings, schools and public conveniences. Within these toilets there is the facility to access hygiene bins within the female and accessible toilets. Accessible toilets also have an additional bin for the disposal of larger hygiene products if it is classified as a changing area. For public access, Facilities management currently operate 17 public toilets across the authority.
“The Boys Need Bins campaign, spearheaded by Prostate Cancer UK and supported by various organisations, including Bladder Health UK and Tackle Prostate Cancer, aims to address the lack of hygiene bins in male public toilets. This campaign highlights the challenges faced by men, particularly those with urinary incontinence or who wear stomas, in disposing of hygiene products discreetly and hygienically.
“Women’s public toilets are legally required to have hygiene bins. However, there is no similar legislation covering men’s toilets at present. The Boys Need Bins campaign, led by Prostate Cancer UK, advocates for equal facilities for men to ensure dignity and hygiene.
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“The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Bladder and Bowel Continence Care, Bladder Health UK and the British Toilet Association are seeking legislative changes to ensure men have access to facilities to dispose of incontinence products easily and hygienically.”
Officers said the cost of providing hygiene bins in a stall in each of the 17 public conveniences was £43 per facility – a total of £731 per year for all locations.
Conservative councillor Martin Earl, who was involved in the original motion which received full council support, thanked all those who had worked to bring the idea to fruition.
He told the committee this week: “I’m glad it was passed and I’m really pleased to see this as a direct result and it being actioned.
“I’d like to record my thanks. To see that manifest itself into a practical rollout is good.”
He asked, however, that the council’s public awareness campaign on the bins proactively engage other organisations with facilities to ask them to consider and install them as well.
“I think, yes, we raise public awareness – but we maybe do so in quite a proactive way and share the learning we’ve had as well, from a point of view of developing and facilitating other organisations doing it and that some of the barriers they perceive to be in place, be they cost or practicalities, we have actually been able to demonstrate are perfectly surmountable.”
Committee chair, Labour councillor Gerry McGarvey, said: “I think part of our rationale about agreeing and adopting this, was to send a signal to our commitment on a lead on this. I would hope that the awareness raising would include reaching out to other organisations that we can do work with in partnership to do precisely what Martin suggests, because I’m keen to see this progress.”