Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2019 to Question 269008 on Pupils: Sanitary Protection, what criteria his Department uses to assess the environmental friendliness of those products.

As noted in the answer to question 269008, the Invitation to Tender for the Period Products scheme in England has set out that environmentally friendly sanitary pads should be provided as a minimum and that the provision of further sustainable products is encouraged.

When determining whether period products are environmentally friendly, consideration will be given to the extent to which the materials used in the products are sustainable, whether the products are biodegradable and whether the products are reusable.