SHOCK was expressed at a committee meeting that Powys County Council’s (PCC) Tourism Department did not hold data on toilet facilities in the county.

The Economy, Residents, Communities and Governance Scrutiny Committee listened to a report by Dr Greg Thomas, events/civil contingencies project officer and Peter Morris, planning permitted development manager, on a Toilets Strategy for Powys.

They had both worked on the report, which is a legal requirement from the Welsh Government, on top of their other duties.

Councillor Jeremy Pugh (Independent – Builth Wells), said: “I’m astounded that this information was not held by the Tourism Department.

“Tourists visit, eat and sleep, and go to the toilet.

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“This is fundamental to tourism and to say these officers have given up time to get this information is damming.

“If this information was missing people were not doing their jobs properly.

“This should have been well documented.

“We are getting £17,500 for delivering information to the Welsh Assembly (Government) if they want this information and they are not going to fund it properly, send it back to them and tell them to get their own information.

“We cannot afford to spend money on something like this at this time of austerity, it’s ridiculous.”

Cabinet member for Economy and Planning, Cllr Martin Weale, (Independent – Llanbadarn Fawr) said: “I’m sorry, I was amazed myself.

“I was quite shocked that we haven't got this information in the Tourism Department.

“Over the last few years the department has been cut and cut.

Committee chairman, Cllr Mathew Dorrance (Labour, Brecon St John) added: “If the Welsh Government are going to give local authorities more responsibilities they need to be funded.”

Corporate director for economy and environment, Nigel Brinn, said that the work, which had to be done as it is a legal requirement, should not have placed an extra burden on staff.

The Local Toilet Strategy three month consultation held by Powys County Council (PCC) comes to an end on Monday, April 22.

Part 8 of the Public Health Wales Act,  which came into force in May 2018,  expects each county council in Wales to prepare and publish a local toilets strategy for its area.

In the report, Dr Thomas said: “The relevant population in an area when calculating toilet need should include commuters, tourists, visitors, as well as residents, however this data as a whole is unavailable for Powys.”

A lack of changing facilities for both babies and adults has also been identified.

In recent years a total of 56 public toilets have been transferred to other organisations.

Dr Thomas added that the strategy should come into force by the end of May.

The information will be collected by the Welsh Government and could be made available online to help people find a toilet when they are out and about.