Hansard

I congratulate Iain Gray on securing this important debate and using it to highlight what is undoubtedly an important issue for many Scots. I also congratulate his young constituent on her assiduous campaigning on and commitment to the issue.

I was very interested to hear Mark McDonald’s speech. He is right—I want to use my time in this debate to talk about the changing places campaign. As Mr McDonald outlined, PAMIS has done a wealth of work supporting families who have children, brothers or sisters with profound and multiple learning disabilities. For them, days out, concerts or visits to a sports stadium are not the same. As Mark McDonald said, such operations must be assiduously planned around the available facilities. They need bigger toilet facilities that have hoists, more space and many extra features that changing places toilets provide. I understand that those toilets cost about £100,000 each to install; the Scottish Parliament has one that can be used by visitors to the building.

It is particularly important for people who need such toilets to be able to plan a day out just as every other family can, and to have the basic sanitation facilities that they need, as Iain Gray said. However, there are also issues in terms of accessible tourism. Parliament is committed on a cross-party basis to improving Scotland’s reputation for accessible tourism. How can tourism in Scotland 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 pleased to hear Mark McDonald say that he has written to a number of sports clubs in Scotland. I fully commend him for that work. I have written to SSE Hydro and the SECC to ask whether they will install changing places toilets. An incredible number of acts are coming to perform at the Hydro, but it is not accessible to many families because they cannot take their loved ones to the toilet.