Scotland's Free Period Products Law: How It Works and Who It Covers

Facebook ↗WhatsApp ↗
0 0 Edit this post

Originally published 2020-05-09.

Scotland's 2020 Period-Products Legislation

Scotland became the first country in the world to write a legal right to free period products into law. Labour MSP Monica Lennon's Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill cleared its first vote in the Scottish Parliament on 25 February 2020, passed its final stage in November 2020 with support from every party, received Royal Assent on 12 January 2021 and came fully into force on 15 August 2022.

Since then, councils have had to make tampons, pads and other products available free to anyone who needs them, and schools, colleges and universities must provide them in their toilets. Here is how the law came about, what it actually requires, and why period poverty became a political issue in the first place.

What the February 2020 vote decided

The vote on 25 February 2020 was the bill's Stage 1, the point at which MSPs agree to its general principles. Passing that stage did not yet change the law, but it signalled broad support and allowed detailed amendments to follow. Supporters rallied outside Holyrood before the debate, and reaction online was quick.

The Scottish Government had initially preferred a more limited, means-tested approach. It changed position around the time of the vote, once it was clear the bill had backing across the chamber, and worked with Lennon on amendments over the following months. The Scottish Parliament's own broadcast of the debate is below.

What the law requires

The Act that emerged places duties on public bodies rather than making products free in every shop. In practice it means:

  • Local councils must ensure period products are available free of charge to anyone in their area who needs them, and must make getting them reasonably easy and dignified.
  • Schools, colleges and universities must provide a range of products in their toilets for pupils and students.
  • Ministers can extend the duty to other public bodies, and several now offer products in places such as libraries, leisure centres and community buildings.

People can collect products in person, and councils also arrange postal deliveries for those who prefer not to ask. The estimated running cost of the scheme was put at about £8.7 million a year.

Why period poverty became a political issue

"Period poverty" describes being unable to afford, or easily get, the products needed to manage menstruation, along with clean toilets, washing facilities and accurate information. For people on tight budgets, a monthly outlay on pads or tampons competes directly with food, heating and bus fares.

Research by the children's charity Plan International UK put numbers to the problem. In a 2017 survey of girls and young women aged 14 to 21, the charity reported that around one in ten had been unable to afford products and a larger share had struggled with the cost. Nearly half said they felt embarrassed by their periods, which made many reluctant to ask for help. During the 2020 lockdowns, the charity found that three in ten girls had problems affording or getting hold of products.

Other campaigners in Scotland, including the grassroots group On The Ball and trade unions, had been pushing for free products in toilets for years before the bill, and the issue drew support from businesses as well as charities.

How Scotland got there: the earlier steps

The 2020 bill built on smaller schemes. In 2017 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's government announced plans to make products free for pupils, and from the 2018-19 academic year Scotland began funding free products in schools, colleges and universities, reportedly with about £5.2 million in its first year. Scotland was widely described as the first country to do this at national level.

One of the tweets embedded here says that step came in 2019. The money was announced in 2018, which makes the earlier date more accurate, though rollout continued into the following year.

A pilot in Aberdeen, which offered free products to people on low incomes, had also tested the idea and helped persuade ministers it could work. Monica Lennon argued that relying on schemes that could be withdrawn by a future government was not enough, and that access should be a legal right.

How other countries compare

Scotland was the first to create a universal legal duty, but many countries have tackled the cost of period products in other ways:

  • Kenya began scrapping taxes on menstrual products in 2004, one of the earliest countries to do so, and later removed VAT on imports and raw materials.
  • Colombia, Malaysia, Lebanon, Tanzania and Mexico are among the countries that have removed VAT on menstrual products entirely.
  • New Zealand began offering free products in schools in 2021, and England introduced a free products scheme for schools and colleges in 2020.
  • Northern Ireland passed its own Period Products (Free Provision) Act in 2022, closely modelled on Scotland's law.
  • Many US states have cut or removed sales tax on period products, and several now require them to be stocked in school toilets.

The UK as a whole also abolished the so-called tampon tax at the start of 2021, after it left the EU's VAT rules, setting the rate on period products to zero.

Questions and common misconceptions

Does this mean products are free in every shop?

No. Supermarkets and pharmacies still sell them. The law guarantees a free route through councils and education providers for anyone who needs it, without a means test or proof of need.

Who can use the scheme?

Anyone who menstruates and needs products, including trans and non-binary people, visitors and people who are not in education. Nobody has to explain why they need them.

Is it only about money?

Cost is the headline, but campaigners also stress dignity and education: being able to pick up products without asking, and talking about periods openly so that young people are not left embarrassed or misinformed. Charities such as the Poverty Alliance have also argued that free products should go hand in hand with efforts to raise low incomes.

Sources: Wikipedia: Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021; Scottish Government: Access to free period products; Plan International UK: research on period poverty and stigma; Wikipedia: Period poverty; tweets embedded from their authors' public accounts.

Related reading

Labels:

Facebook ↗WhatsApp ↗

COMMENTS

BLOGGER