Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce a statutory right to access free period products.

The Government recognises the importance of women and girls being able to access the care they need for their reproductive health, including period products.

We know that poverty doesn’t recognise gender, and that women and girls may suffer given the cost of period products. However, we know that period poverty reflects wider cost-of-living pressures, which is why the Government is tackling the root causes of poverty, through measures to make work pay, boosting the living wage, and investing in public services, so no one has to go without the essentials.

There are a number of schemes across the Government which ensure that those who are most vulnerable can access the products they need. The Department for Education’s Period Products scheme launched in 2020 and provides free period products to girls and women in their place of study so that nobody misses out on education because of their period. Similarly, all women and girls being cared for by the National Health Service are entitled to be given, upon request, appropriate period products free of charge.

We are also taking steps to ensure that products are as affordable as possible, as the tax on period products has been zero-rated since 2021, and in 2023 this was extended to include reusable period underwear.