Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of school days missed by girls due to being unable to afford sanitary products.

In March 2018, the department produced additional analysis of its absence statistics which show that while absence rates amongst girls do increase after a certain age, there is no evidence to suggest that this is related to pupils being disadvantaged. This suggests period poverty does not have a significant, nation-wide impact on attendance. The department would like to find out more information on these issues so has included questions relating to period poverty in the 2018 surveys for pupils and senior school leaders.

The government has awarded more than £1.6 million from the £15 million Tampon Tax Fund to Brook Young People, who will educate girls about menstruation and hand out pre-paid cards allowing girls and young women in need to access free sanitary products.