A number of Lib Dem councillors and council groups are doing amazing work in their areas to tackle period poverty.
Below is a template Council Motion based on a recent motion from Merton Liberal Democrats that calls for free period products to provided in all Council Buildings in the area.
You can find the original motion from Merton – that has some specific statistics relating to London – here.
You can also find some more information on Plan UK’s website here.
The template Council Motion is below:
Council notes:
- In 2022 a survey commissioned by Action Aid UK found nearly one in eight women in Great Britain had recently struggled to buy menstrual products – either for themselves or for a dependent.
- The survey found, of those who has struggled to afford menstrual products, 75% had needed to prioritise spending money on food and 49% needed to prioritise spending money on gas/electric.
- A number of Councils across the UK have already set up or agreed to schemes to provide free period products.
- In a YouGov survey undertaken last year two thirds of Britons supported making it a legal requirement for local authorities to provide free period products.
Council strongly believes:
- The cost of living crisis has forced many women to prioritise other household essentials such as food, clothes and heating over menstrual products.
- No one should experience period poverty.
Council resolves to:
- Ask Cabinet to look at ways to provide free, and where possible sustainable, period products in all the council’s public accessible toilets and buildings including leisure centres, libraries and community centres.