What Is the RADAR National Key Scheme?

What Is the RADAR National Key Scheme?

Disability Rights UK (formerly R.A.D.A.R.) promotes a UK national scheme whereby specially manufactured locks are fitted to accessible toilets across the UK and can only be operated using a RADAR key. The National Key Scheme (NKS) offers disabled people independent access to locked public toilets around the country.

Toilets fitted with N&C Phlexicare RADAR National Key Scheme locks can now be found in shopping centres, pubs, cafés, department stores, bus and train stations, and many other locations across the country.

The Development of the National Key Scheme

In 1981, an appropriate universal lock was introduced by N&C Phlexicare, a company with an established record in providing ironmongery for the accessible market. This introduction saw the launch of the National Key Scheme, which is now used in more than 9,000 toilets around the UK.

Supporting Independent Access to Public Facilities

The scheme allowed public facilities that had previously been locked due to vandalism and misuse to be made available to disabled users again by local authorities.

The National Key Scheme began expanding across the UK when National Rail installed the locks at more than 40 stations around the country. By the mid-1980s, at least one N&C Phlexicare RADAR lock was being fitted every working day. The scheme became a normal part of accessible provision in many areas and played an integral role in the development of vandal-resistant “superloos”.