Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the environmental impact of disposable period products and (a) environmentally friendly and (b) reusable products.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra has not carried out a comparative assessment of the environmental impact of different types of period products.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 17.7 of the NHS Standard Contract 2024/25 Service Conditions, published in February 2024, what steps her Department is taking to offer reusable period products.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

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

Since 2019 it has been a requirement in the NHS Standard Contract that the National Health Service must offer period products to every hospital patient who needs them.

Paragraph 17.7 places an obligation on providers to ensure that supplies of appropriate sanitary products are available and are, on request, provided promptly to inpatient service users free of charge. It is for individual providers to decide what products to provide and how best to meet their obligations.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Period product scheme for schools and colleges, published 9 September 2024, what methods she uses to highlight to eligible schools and colleges the availability of (a) environmentally friendly and (b) reusable products.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The period product scheme provides a wide range of products for organisations to choose from. These include environmentally friendly tampons and pads, alongside reusable products such as menstrual cups and period pants. Schools and colleges know their learners best and therefore have the freedom to select the most suitable products for their learners, considering the cost and type of product.

When choosing products, girls and women will inevitably have a range of priorities including whether the product is familiar, comfortable and whether it is environmentally friendly. The department therefore offers a range of products to allow organisations and learners a choice. We will be monitoring product choice closely, while continuing to seek opportunities to encourage the use of sustainable products as the scheme develops.

In the 2024/25 academic year up to February 2025, 45% of ordering organisations had ordered environmentally friendly or reusable products.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Period product scheme for schools and colleges, published 9 September 2024, what proportion of organisations have ordered (a) environmentally friendly and (b) reusable products during the 2024-25 academic year to date.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The period product scheme provides a wide range of products for organisations to choose from. These include environmentally friendly tampons and pads, alongside reusable products such as menstrual cups and period pants. Schools and colleges know their learners best and therefore have the freedom to select the most suitable products for their learners, considering the cost and type of product.

When choosing products, girls and women will inevitably have a range of priorities including whether the product is familiar, comfortable and whether it is environmentally friendly. The department therefore offers a range of products to allow organisations and learners a choice. We will be monitoring product choice closely, while continuing to seek opportunities to encourage the use of sustainable products as the scheme develops.

In the 2024/25 academic year up to February 2025, 45% of ordering organisations had ordered environmentally friendly or reusable products.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to United Nations World Food Programme press release entitled Tens of millions at risk of extreme hunger and starvation as unprecedented funding crisis spirals, published on 28 March 2025, whether he has had discussions with the World Food Programme on Sudan.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is the largest and most severe globally. Tens of millions of people require life-saving aid with almost 640,000 people projected to be experiencing catastrophic famine conditions. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Ministers and officials are in regular communications with representatives from the World Food Programme (WFP). On 10 March, the Minister for Development met the WFP Country Director for Sudan alongside other senior United Nations staff. More recently, WFP staff participated in a UK organised roundtable meeting about the crisis in Sudan as part of preparations for the UK's Sudan London Conference, taking place on 15 April.

Found: Answering member: Anneliese Dodds | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office The UK Government

Found: ▪ In February, the Minister for Development, Anneliese Dodds MP, resigned over cuts to Overseas Development

Found: Thomas–Symonds MP as Minister for the Constitution and European Relations in the Cabinet Office;  Anneliese Dodds