Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress the Government is making on negotiating the removal of VAT on women's sanitary products.

I have written to the European Commission and other Member States setting out our strong view that Member States should have full discretion over what rate of VAT they can apply to sanitary products, and that this should be considered in the context of the Commission’s Action Plan on VAT, which is now expected to be published in March 2016.