Hygiene in Schools

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 4th May 2009

Susan Gaszczak, Liberal Democrat county council candidate in Vicarage Holywell (Watford) emailed Hertfordshire County Council's Director of Children Schools and Families last week to ask him to remind schools to provide soap in toilets as the World Health Organisation raised the Swine Flu threat to level 5.

Susan said: 'The Director has assured us this advice has been issued to schools. I understand that schools can have health and safety issues about providing soap: young people can be very inventive as to what you can do with a bar of soap. While we are under threat of a pandemic, there is no better time than to reintroduce soap to toilets in all schools and teach young people why the soap

is there - for hygiene.'

Susan continued: 'I would suggest parents ask their children if soap is present. Many parents I have spoken to have discovered this is not the case.'