Subject: Free period products in public buildings

Date of meeting: 20 October 2022

Proposer: Councillor Heley

Seconder: Councillor Appich

Ward(s) affected: All

Joint Notice of Motion

Green & Labour Group

This Council believes that:

a) Everyone who requires period products should be able to access them for free

b) A person’s period should not prevent them from succeeding in life

This Council resolves to:

1. Build on the positive work being done in Brighton & Hove since working closely with schools across the city, and in light of the cost-of-living crisis, pay further attention to period poverty

2. Explore the provision of sanitary products in public buildings including the Town Hall and community centres - in female, male, disabled and gender neutral facilities

3. Explore whether any free disposable period products provided by the council can be sustainably sourced

4. Explore the provision of sanitary waste bins in all toilets, not just female toilets

5. To publicise the provision of free period products through council communication channels

6. To encourage the Council to widen access to free period products across Brighton & Hove providing free period products in toilets of all public buildings including libraries, schools and colleges

7. To request the Chief Executive to write to the UK government to press for funding to public bodies in England that would enable them to make period products free and available to all those who need them, as has been done in Scotland and Wales

Supporting Information:

· The average menstruating person spends £4800 on period products in their lifetime (Bloody Good Period, 2019)

· 36% of girls aged 14-21 in the UK struggled to afford or access period products during the coronavirus pandemic, equivalent to over a million people (Plan International, 2021)

· Half of these girls could not afford period products at all and 73% said they had to use toilet paper instead of pads or tampons at some point

· Inability to buy period products leads to social exclusion, particularly from education (Global Citizen, 2018)

· Period poverty is a particular problem for refugees and those in the asylum system, who receive under £40 a week in state support (Bloody Good Period/Women for Refugee Women, 2019)

· More than three million people in the UK are unable to afford basic everyday health essentials such as period products (Hygiene Bank, 2022)