 Leanneiat ddaeth ymocrad hon. D rapporoli yw rydw i ddaeth yma o gwis Buddy, theftedahol i gweithio chi casgliad, a wneud banden nhw ieon Fawr UNIE? Felly, mae'n edrych nhw iawn i chi'n gweithio sydd gyda'r ffordd o'r 마�rdu tw фильмаmarcoedd yng Nghymru. Felly, twfynai'r gweithio yn llog yng nghymru yng Nghymru yn y Llyfridd поedd o'i gilydd nettiad iddyn nhw o'r gweliadau yng Nghymru a'r byddiau'r meddwl iawn i'r 250 years later, and that is a message that is still to be heard by far too many and still to be acted on on behalf of many more. For people in developed countries like this one, flushing a toilet and turning on a tap is taken for granted. Toilets are the topic of the easiest and crassest of jokes, and indeed the organisers of World Toilet Day are not blind to the comic potential of their endeavours with the slogan, World Toilet Day 2015, We Can't Wait. The hard truth is that more than 650 million people in the world do not have access to clean water, and more than 2.3 billion do not have access to safe private toilet. Dairia is one of the three most common killers of young children globally, along with pneumonia and malaria. Every year, around 68 million children are born into homes without access to sanitation. Around 315,000 children under five die every single year from Dairia, caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. That is almost 900 children every day. It is clear that they can't wait. The worst, of course, is that this is a problem that can be solved. Almost 60 per cent of those deaths could be simply prevented by clean water, sanitation and good hygiene, including hand washing with soap. In September, the United Nations adopted new global goals on sustainable development. The entire world came together to agree a path to a fairer, more sustainable world, one in which extreme poverty is eliminated and no matter where you are, you have enough to eat, clean water to drink, a safe private place to relieve yourself and soap and water to wash with. Goal 6 promises adequate, equitable access to water, sanitation and hygiene for everyone everywhere by 2030. There is a bonus to be had from this, because for every £1 invested in sanitation, there is around a £4 return. Health has improved, fewer days are lost to illness and girls in particular stay on at school longer and complete their education. World Toilet Day is not a joke, but important. I am glad to be the one to have us market, I think, for the first time. We do not always get toilets right here in Scotland either. I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my young constituent, Grace Warnock of Crescent Pans, who is here this evening. Genial Grace has Crohn's disease. Happily, she is currently in remission, but she previously has had to use accessible disabled toilets when she was out and about because this enabled her to quickly access the toilet when she needed it and because it has washing facilities to hand and enough space for her mum to help her. Being able to use an accessible toilet affords Grace support and dignity when she needs it most. That should be straightforward enough, but Grace's experience of using accessible toilets has sometimes not been positive. That, in part, is due to many people thinking that if you are not a wheelchair user or have another visible disability, you should not be using an accessible toilet. Grace responded by coming up with a great idea to help raise public understanding. She simply designed a new door sign to highlight the fact that not everyone who needs to use an accessible toilet uses a wheelchair or has a visible disability. She also wrote to me and I was able to arrange meetings for her with Independent Living in Scotland and Scottish Disability Equality Forum, both of whom have taken her campaign up. Grace and her campaign featured in the big issue and she found a company willing to realise her design professionally. We now have commitments from South Lanarkshire Council, Grace's own home council and mine of East Lothian, and also Enjoy Leisure, which runs our local leisure facilities, all of whom have agreed to trial Grace's sign for real in their buildings. Frankly, that is not bad for a 10-year-old. Although it is worth saying that Grace clearly gets her flair for campaigning, not to say her unstoppable determination from her mum Judith, who has been with her every step of the way, they are a formidable team and they are not going to be satisfied until Grace's sign goes up on accessible toilets all over Scotland. I must admit that when I started this, I thought that there would be somebody we could find who had responsibility for this kind of signage and if we could win them over, the campaign would have won. However, it seems that there is no such body, so Grace and her mum are having to fight this pretty much one toilet door at a time. Grace was asked by the United Nations to help to raise awareness of world toilet day and indeed its themes so appropriate to her campaign of equality and dignity. She decided to do so by collecting funny pictures of toilets from friends and family on her Grace's sign Facebook page and you can see them there. However, what I want to say to the minister is this, if he would like to do something very practical to mark world toilet day, then here is my suggestion, agree to adopt Grace's sign and use the Scottish Government's offices to promote it throughout the public sector in Scotland. A little more dignity for all those who need accessible toilets, that's surely not too much to ask. Many thanks. I now turn to the open debate. Speach is of four minutes or so please and I call Mark McDonald to be followed by Jenny Marra. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and I congratulate Ian Gray on bringing this debate to the chamber this evening. I think that he makes an important point that, while there may be a bit of behind the hand sniggering about the concept of debating about toilets, it is important to remember that first and foremost there are many nations across this world where, as Ian Gray rightly points out, the use of the toilet is both hazardous to health and also often extremely dangerous just in terms of accessing a toilet in the first place. I think that Ian Gray makes some very important points. I was very interested to hear about the example of his constituent and having been in that situation with my son, who, because he is not toilet trained, requires more space than a toilet cubicle often in order to use the toilet, not to mention the fact that he gets sensory overload from the sound of hand dryers, so using an accessible toilet where you know that it will only be yourselves in there and you won't have to worry about somebody setting off a hand dryer and potentially triggering an autistic meltdown is extremely important. However, when you emerge from that toilet holding the hand of your child who is walking freely, it does often get met with skeptical looks and people do, I think, as Ian Gray says, associate the concept of accessible toilets with wheelchair users. I was interested in what he said and I say to him that if he wants to forward on information to me regarding Gray's campaign and her sign I'd be more than happy to receive it and look and see if there's anything I can do through my work with organisations like National Autistic Society Scotland and also in my constituency to try and maybe promote this as an opportunity to change signage. The work that he's outlined that Gray is doing is commendable, but the more shoulders that you put to the wheel the more chance there is of making change, so I'm happy to receive that from him and perhaps have a conversation with him at some point regarding that. That's one other thing that I wanted to mention today, Presiding Officer, and that's the campaign on changing places toilets, which I've been heavily involved in alongside the organisation PAMAS who are leading on this in Scotland and also the changing places consortium, which are promoting changing places toilets. The issue first came to light to me when I shadowed a carer, Stephanie Chalmers, from Tariff and Aberdeenshire, whose sun corner was required hoist equipment in order to use the toilet. Outline to me just how difficult it was for Stephanie and Connor to enjoy what most of us would classify as a normal day out because often required military planning in order to know exactly where they could access a toilet facility that was suitable for Connor's needs and make sure they were somewhere in the vicinity of said facility in order to then access it should need a rise. That's why I've been so impressed with the work that's been done, driven by the changing places consortium in PAMAS, ably backed by the Scottish Government's keys for life learning disability strategy and why the target that was in that strategy has not just been met, it has been smashed and work continues to go on to promote changing places toilets. One of the things that's been highlighted to me is the idea that these facilities can only exist in large venues and to some extent that's true. I think we need to see more large venues adopting a changing places toilet. I know Jenny Marra, who I suspect is about speaking the debate, has called for that at the SCCC. That's something I've backed. I've written to the football clubs in Scotland encouraging them to incorporate changing places facilities. I wrote last season to all of the top flight teams and the top three teams in the championship, who at that time were heart sips and rangers. I only received three replies from those 15 letters that I sent from Celtic, Dundee United and Aberdeen, which I passed on to PAMAS and I know that they've been trying to engage with those clubs. I think that until such time as we have sporting venues, music venues, airports, we don't have a single changing places toilet in any of Scotland's airports, that's something that needs to change as well. Until we can make those steps forward, I think that we will be in a situation where many people will still feel that the dignity that is afforded to all of us when we go to any venue, go on holiday, go for a day out is being denied to them in some way. I commend Ian Gray for bringing this debate to the chamber and allowing us the opportunity to outline some very important points that relate to it. Many thanks. I now call Jenny Marra to be followed by Cameron Buchanan. I congratulate Ian Gray on securing this important debate and using it to highlight what is undoubtedly an important issue for many Scots. Can I also take the opportunity to congratulate his young constituent on her assiduous campaigning and commitment to this issue? I'm very interested to hear Mark McDonald's remarks there and he is right. I wanted to use my time in this debate to talk about the changing places campaign. As Mr McDonald outlined, PAMAS has done a wealth of work supporting families who have children, brothers and sisters with profound and multiple learning disabilities. For them, a day out or a concert or a visit to a sports stadium is not the same. As Mark McDonald said, it is in assiduously planned operation and it is planned around the facilities that exist. They need bigger toilet facilities with hoists, more space in the toilets and they need many extra features that those changing places toilets provide. I understand that those specific toilets cost about £100,000 each to install. The Scottish Parliament has one here and it is used by visitors to the building. It is particularly important for people in our own communities to be able to plan a day out like every other family to have basic sanitation facilities that they need, as Ian Gray says. There are also aspects here of accessible tourism. This Parliament is committed on a cross-party basis to improving Scotland's reputation for accessible tourism. How can that tourism be fully accessible if basic facilities, such as proper toilets and changing places toilets do not exist in our cultural, social and sporting venues? I was very pleased to hear Mark McDonald say that he had written to a number of the sports clubs in Scotland and that is work that I fully commend and support him on. I myself have written to SSC Hydro and SECC to ask if they will install one there, because if you think about the incredible amount of acts that are coming to perform in the Hydro, but for many families that will just not be accessible to them because they will not be able to take their loved one to the toilet. So it is simple things that we will... Yes, absolutely. Mark McDonald? I agree with the member entirely. Would you also accept and acknowledge that it is not just that they sometimes are prevented from going, because when they do go, they often have to change their loved ones on the floor of a toilet, which can often be dirty, it can often be wet and if nothing else is deeply undignified? Mr McDonnell is absolutely right and I think that him and I have both seen videos and heard families talk about these experiences. It just makes for a much more dignified and civilised day out if these facilities are available. I was very pleased to hear that one has been installed in Murrayfield and Pamys themselves have been doing a whole host of work and campaigning on this issue. I would ask the minister perhaps in summing up to express his commitment to the changing places campaign and can I finish my contribution by paying tribute to Loretto Lam who died recently but had really spearheaded this campaign on behalf of Pamys but was sadly taken from us just a few weeks ago. Her contribution to this area and for the families she will be sorely missed. When this motion first came up I thought it was a bit of a joke or rather a bummer. Indeed, I'm not sure if it still isn't but it's obviously deadly serious as we've heard from Mark, Jenny and Ian. I have to be careful not to fill this slot with double entendres or even more obvious toilet terms. I find these world days or world weeks or world awareness weeks as they seem to happen all the time rather ridiculous but in this case I've read the motion and I understand exactly what it is trying to achieve. This is basically about improvements in sanitation worldwide. At one point I thought it was also to do with the Edinburgh City Council closing the public toilets and a protest against this but it isn't. Access to clean and safe sanitation including toilets is of fundamental importance to human health, safety and dignity. It is entirely right therefore that the Sustainable Development Goals prioritise access to safe sanitation for all. However, Government's declaring something to be a goal does not mean it will happen. Government initiatives are the only way to make it happen. These changing places toileted to this example and I would also be very interested in what the Minister said about that. I came across them as well in another venue and with another person and it's very undignified. As progress against the older UN development goals showed, much progress is brought about by economic development so while it is worth promoting sustainable development goals it is vital that the policies are put in place to help developing countries' economies to trade freely. The UK Government has been at the forefront of international efforts to help sanitation projects in poor countries where an adequacy of toilet facilities is most marked. Over the last Parliament the UK Government helped to provide access to water, sanitation and improved hygiene to over 51 million people. This included supplying clean water and latrines to 340,000 people in Haity with the help of local volunteers which was reinforced, which is very important, by a public health education campaign to spread the word to 125,000 people in the area. However, of course, this does not miss the point that to make a lasting difference in clean sanitation it takes more than building some toilets. I read that in Bathgate there was toilet twinning, which has been recently named as Scotland's first toilet twin town. There are even schemes where people were paid to use toilets in India as the existing public toilets are left unused for a variety of reasons. I think this should really have been called World Sanitation Day rather than World Toilet Day because it's really to ensure that the availability of sustainable management of water and sanitation for all wherever they are. Taking this closer to home in France there is a proliferation of toilets which would be modernised from the old piecewile that used to see in the streets where these famous pictures of men coming up butting their trousers. The French have a rather progressive attitude towards these matters or should I say a more open attitude and they have these toilets now where you pay one euro to use them and they automatically clean everything that is in sight including possibly your bottom if you're not quick enough. Taking a more serious line it is basic sanitation that needs improving not just toilets as we can see from the lack of excess in some places and around the world it is something that needs thought and money spent on it. But this debate is more than about toilets it's about sanitation in general. I think that going to the toilet is a bit like death when you've got to go you've got to go. I would like to thank Ian Gray for securing today's debate and for recognising its importance to the public. Access to toilets is something that the majority of us in Scotland take for granted but proper sanitation has a major impact on people's health, dignity and safety especially for girls and women around the world. I was surprised to learn that 2.5 billion people do not have access to proper sanitation or toilets and that in 45 countries fewer than half of the population have access to adequate sanitation. When preparing for this speech I took a look at the world bank statistics on these countries and I was very surprised to see India on the list. According to the data only 40% of the population have access to improved sanitation facilities. Another country on the list is Malawi with 41% access. Improved sanitation is often a neglected area of investment when reserves are scarce. It is generally seen as a result of economic growth, not something that can enable growth. Countries such as India, which have a huge and growing population, have many challenges in spreading sanitation, especially in rural areas. I have actually spent significant amounts of time in rural areas of India and Pakistan and seen for myself what impact improved sanitation has on communities. It is not just a matter of building sanitation facilities, but you can also provide and encourage people to use the toilets and educate people on hygiene issues such as properly washing hands, which has already been mentioned, as you are basically asking people to break a habit of a lifetime and that is not easy. The focus on general equality is very important and the absence of proper facilities. When seeking privacy women might decide to go to toilets in the early morning hours or in the dark evenings. If a woman or a girl is forced to manage their needs in the open such as by the roadside or in dark fields at dawn, they are particularly vulnerable to violence. On another note, I would like to congratulate Ian Gray's constitution, Gray's Warlock, for her campaign for better signage and accessible toilets. In the time when many local authorities are no longer providing public toilets, it is important that we provide accessible facilities for those in need. Many businesses displayed signs stating that facilities are for paying customers or customers only. However, that causes problems for people who may not be visibly disabled but need to need the toilet more frequently than others. I suggest that future premises are open to all when it comes to businesses providing facilities. I have to congratulate Gray's Warlock for her initiative. I wish her every success in that. I hope that the minister will take on board her suggestions supported by Ian Gray. I hope that we can actually change things around for the people of Scotland and display to the rest of the world how we can lead this once again as a Scottish nation. I invite the minister, Jamie Hepburn, to respond to the debate. I begin by joining with others and congratulating Ian Gray on securing this debate to mark World Toilet Day 2015. Others have made the point but I will reiterate that there could have been some potential for some cynical commentary on the fact that we are holding this debate. There may still be. I think that that would be a matter to be regretted, Presiding Officer, because this is an important issue. Members' thoughtful contributions demonstrate that to be the case. Each contribution in its own way has raised awareness of the need for access to proper sanitation. The important contribution makes to gender equality, health, dignity, security and social and economic development across the world. We hear in Scotland that many of us take for granted although members have rightly raised some issues about the domestic scene, which I will respond to in a few moments. First, I want to reiterate the point that Ian Gray made. The sustainable development goals agreed in September this year include the critical target of ensuring access to water and sanitation for all. I am sure that we all wholeheartedly support. Some 2.5 billion people do not have access to adequate and safe sanitation. That is a global shame, Presiding Officer, and presents a challenge that we must step up to and meet. The issue highlights the need for today's action that cannot wait. The global context is that water scarcity affects more than 40 per cent of people around the world in an alarming figure that is projected to increase with the rise of global temperatures as a consequence of climate change. Although much progress has been made, some 2.1 billion people have gained access to improved water sanitation since 1990, as have set out the numbers that still do not have safe water and adequate sanitation are still far too many. We know that that manifests itself in very many negative ways. Every two minutes, a child dies of diseases related to diarrhea, which could have been prevented by improved water, sanitation and hygiene. In 2014, 159 million children worldwide were stunted due to malnutrition. One of the main causes is water-related diseases such as diarrhea that prevent the proper absorption of nutrients from food. Some countries lose as much as 7 per cent of their GDP because of inadequate sanitation with water-related diseases, causing missed days. Work-duty ailments are caring for sick relatives and 443 million sick days are taken by children every year because of water-related diseases. That is a major problem impacting every continent. It is a problem for us all, and it is therefore incumbent on us all to respond. Ensuring universal access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030 requires we invest in adequate infrastructure, provide sanitation facilities and encourage hygiene at every level. The Government is proud to be active in this area of global concern. Through our Scotland Hydro nation programme and our international development activity, we can try to make a difference. We also recognise that Scotland has much to offer the world in terms of knowledge and expertise in a range of key water resource management areas. One of the focuses of our Hydro nation strategy in the years ahead will be on where Scotland can add value and contribute towards solving global water issues. The sustainable development goal in water and sanitation will help to provide the global political context for our activity, working hard to deliver on our vision of Scotland as the world's first Hydro nation. One of which manages its water environment to best advantage employing its knowledge and expertise effectively at home and internationally. The Climate Justice Fund has been supported by Hydro nation funds of £6 million so far and has delivered 11 water adaptation projects in Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia. Scottish Water has been long-term supporters of water aid and has raised money in taking part in practical work and will continue to do so. Earlier this year, in May, we hosted the 15th international water resources association congress in Edinburgh. Within the region of 1,000 delegates discussing ground-breaking research and the key global issues relating to water and sanitation, we will continue to deliver practical projects on the ground and host and participate in the global discussions on water and sanitation issues. We will work with Governments such as the Government of Malawi to make sure that we are supporting work that is appropriate for each country and has the engagement of local communities and makes a difference on the ground. For example, we have provided funding of just over £390,000 to the support of a project that will aim to improve the health and wellbeing of impoverished families in Bihar in India. The project aims to deliver health and hygiene workshops and will provide loans to clients to enable the installation of toilets, water systems and biogast stores and will help to improve the health and wellbeing of impoverished families in Bihar. Of course, there is a domestic angle to today's debate as well, and I did undertake to respond to some of the issues that are raised, which I will do now. The changing places campaign by Pamys was cited by both Jenny Marr and Mark McDonald, who have met to discuss the issues that were raised through the campaign previously. The accessible changing places toilets are, as Mr MacDonald made the point, recognised in the keys to life of the Scottish learning disability strategy as an essential part of community facilities. Indeed, the key to community inclusion for people with complex needs is that there are now 120 accessible changing places toilets in Scotland. That is significant progress. I would recognise and respond to the point about Jenny Marr to re-emphasise my support for the campaign and the further roll-out of facilities as progress, but we still have further to go. We need to ensure a better geographic distribution of those facilities. I would also accept that we need to work with some of the locations, which can expect a high number of visitors to ensure that more of them have that type of facility too. Let me add my congratulations and also welcome to the gallery tonight to Grace Warnock. I want to congratulate her for her outstanding and imaginative awareness-raising campaign to secure better door signs for accessible toilets in Scotland. I am sure that Mr Gray is proud to be Grace's MSP. She rightly so. She has reminded us of the important fact that some conditions are hidden from view and therefore that accessible toilets are not only for people who use wheelchairs. I know that this is a matter that Mr Gray wrote to my colleague Maureen Watt although it was Margaret Burgess who responded on this. I think that that did facilitate a meeting for Grace with the independent living in Scotland organisation with the Heather Fiske and their project manager. There is some work under way in South Lanarkshire, as Mr Gray referred to. He also referred to the work that is under way in East Lothian. He made a request of me as Minister to look at how the Scottish Government can further promote accessible signage. I am certainly happy to look at what the experience is in South Lanarkshire to see what lessons can be learned there. I am also happy, even before we reach that stage, to see what further steps we can take. That is something that I will give consideration to. I will come back to Mr Gray so that he can keep Grace up-to-date on the progress, because, undeniably, there is significant progress through her campaign. I congratulate Ian Gray on securing this debate. I join in welcoming the significant progress that Grace Warnock has already made with her campaign. I note the vital importance of providing adequate and equitable access to sanitation here in Scotland and across the globe.