Consultation on free period product provision in Highland

The Highland Council has launched a public consultation on where and how people would like to see free period products made available.

 

In 2021, Scotland became the first country to pass a law to make period products freely available and easily accessible to anyone who needs them.

 

The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act aims to tackle period poverty, promote period dignity and break the stigma surrounding periods in Scotland and places a responsibility on councils to undertake this work.

 

Chairman of The Highland Council’s Communities and Place Committee Councillor Graham MacKenzie said the consultation will help the council understand where people would like to see period products made available to make sure provision is based on local need and is made available in a dignified way.

 

'We are pleased to be working with our partners, including High Life Highland, to achieve this,' he added.

 

The local authority would like to hear from anyone who uses period products including tampons, pads and reusable products, as well as those who may use them in the future, and those who collect them on behalf of others.

 

The consultation aims to find out where people would like these products to be made available, how people would like to obtain them and the type of products that may be wanted.

 

The council is working with partners to make free period products available in key council public access buildings and High Life Highland premises, including libraries and leisure centres, from mid-August.

 

Findings will inform future locations and ways of provision and will also build on existing work where free period products have already been made available in Highland schools.

 

The community consultation will be open until August 3 at www.highland.gov.uk/freeperiodproducts.

 

Further information and paper copies of the survey are available at period.products@highland.gov.uk