Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department (a) has made and (b) plans to make of the effectiveness of the free sanitary products in all primary schools scheme (i) while all pupils are not attending school due to the covid-19 outbreak and (ii) over the summer holidays.

On 20 January 2020, the department launched a new scheme which makes free period products available for state-funded primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in England.

This is an important step to ensure that menstruation does not present a barrier to learning and that no-one is held back from reaching their potential.

We are continuing to monitor schools’ engagement with the scheme during the COVID-19 outbreak. All schools and colleges continue to be able to order period products and distribute them to learners according to their own local arrangements.