Truckers’ Toilets founder says government doesn’t give “two hoots” about drivers’ health

The founder of Truckers’ Toilets has accused Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt of “passing the buck” after he told her to contact another department about improved toilet access for drivers.

Gill Kemp said the Department of Health “doesn’t appear to care two hoots about the health of lorry drivers” after Hunt’s office appeared to brush off her concerns.

Kemp contacted Hunt after he paid a visit to skincare products firm Deb Group and raised awareness about the importance of hand hygiene.

She asked him to back her campaign for professional HGV drivers to have access to customer toilets, but in a written response his spokesman said her campaign “would be better addressed to the Department for Transport.”

The DfT has previously told Kemp it has “no powers to intervene”.

Kemp said: “Mr Hunt’s response is unhelpful because the Department of Health appears to be refusing to take on board the health of hard working people, i.e lorry drivers in this instance.

“What bugs me most is the fact that MPs and government staff surely accept deliveries of goods personally either via shopping, on the doorstep, to suppliers and so on, but don’t give a hoot about the people who do the deliveries; yet they bang on about looking after hard working people.

She added: “Is it right, in the 21st Century, to ask people to ‘work hard’ without access to a toilet and be unable to wash their hands?”

In April, Truckers’ Toilets and Blue Arrow joined forces to lobby the government for minimum standards for HGV toilet facilities.