Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the Government's plans to provide free sanitary products in secondary schools and colleges from September 2019.

No-one should be held back from reaching their potential because of their gender or background. My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Spring Statement on 13 March 2019 that the Department for Education will lead a scheme to provide access to free sanitary products in all secondary schools and colleges across England. On 16 April 2019, I announced that funding would be extended to cover need in primary schools and that national roll-out would take place in early 2020.

The department published an Invitation to Tender for the Period Products scheme on 15 June 2019, and we intend to award this contract in Autumn 2019. We are also working with stakeholders to develop guidance that will support institutions in embedding this scheme.