Task force recommends government grants for coffee shop operators to renovate toilets & deep clean regularly

The Public Toilets Task Force, in a report released on Feb. 21, 2025, recommended that the government provide grants to coffee shop operators to undertake toilet upgrades and regular deep cleaning.

The task force was co-chaired by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment Baey Yam Keng and Public Hygiene Council chairman Andrew Khng.

In a Facebook post on Feb. 21, 2025, Baey said the task force had submitted its recommendations to Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.

The task force identified a list of "key issues" and suggested they could be tackled under four pillars:

1. Design and Infrastructure
2. Cleaning and Maintenance with Adoption of Technology
3. Monitoring by All Stakeholders, Audit and Enforcement
4. Engagement and Outreach

The idea to provide grants for renovation falls under the first pillar, while the idea for grants for deep cleaning fall under the second.

Renovation grant

The task force said toilets may be designed "as an afterthought", and that their existing design and infrastructure may create difficulties in cleaning and maintenance, as well as poor ventilation.

Thus, the renovation grant recommended by the task force would be aimed at tackling the issue of poor design impacting cleanliness.

The task force suggested that the grants be conditional, and that coffee shops should be required to:

• Achieve the benchmark standards under a soon-to-be-developed "Happy Toilet" certification.
• Adopt a minimum number of key toilet design features recommended by the task force, such as sensor taps, round-bottomed sinks, and sanitary bins in female toilets.
• Send their in-house toilet cleaners to undergo on-site training on routine cleaning.

Deep cleaning grant

Under the Environmental Sanitation Regime, coffee shops are required to develop and implement measures to achieve stipulated cleanliness levels at their premises, including their toilets.

However, the task force also reported "a lack of standardised procedures and expertise amongst some cleaners about how to clean toilets".

It thus recommended that a grant be developed, "to provide co-funding support or incentives for coffeeshop operators to incorporate deep cleaning as part of their toilet cleaning regime".

The task force envisaged that coffee shop supervisors could be required, as a grant condition, to conduct regular checks on toilet cleanliness, ensuring that cleanliness standards are being met.

The grants would also require eateries to adopt deep cleaning standards, and said deep cleaning would "remove odours and persistent stains that general cleaning might not be able to address".

Other recommendations

The task force also recommendations also include:

• Adopting practical and low-cost technology to facilitate toilet cleaning.
• Stepping up public toilet inspections, and publicising enforcement efforts as deterrence.
• Recruiting volunteers to conduct checks and engage coffeeshop patrons with messages on keeping toilets clean, as part of the Neighbourhood Toilets Community Group (NTCG) programme.

Government to review task force recommendations

Fu, in a post on Feb. 21, said that the Ministry will review the recommendations provided by the task force and will provide its response during the upcoming 2025 Committee of Supply debates.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) will take enforcement action if there are lapses found in the cleanliness of toilets at coffee shops, Fu said in parliament in January 2024.

Back in 2024, a study by the Singapore Management University found that "the sanitation in coffeeshop toilets across Singapore were slightly worse than in 2023". 

In 2024 alone, more than 1,200 enforcement actions were taken for public toilet lapses.

2024 was designated as the Year of Public Hygiene. 

You can read the report and its recommendations here.

Top photo from Public Toilets Task Force Report.