Oxford city council to provide free period products

If passed, the motion would see free period products put in public toilets and other public buildings

Free period products are to be provided in a city's public buildings and toilets, a council has agreed.

The decision was unanimously taken by councillors on Oxford City Council after the plans were suggested in a motion by Green Party councillors Rosie Rawle and Lucy Pegg.

They will be available in building such as the town hall and community centres.

Ms Pegg said access to period products "should be a basic right for all who need [them]".

She added: "And if we're serious about tackling inequality in our city, we need to get serious about tackling period poverty."

Period poverty is when people cannot afford to access suitable period products.

'Real difference'

The council said it would lobby Oxfordshire County Council to bring in a similar plan across the county and would push for the government to rollout a nationwide scheme.

Mrs Rawle said the initiative would make a "real and tangible difference" to people's lives in Oxford.

The council is also set to support the Young Women's Music Project - Wings - a volunteer-run service which currently delivers free sanitary products across Oxford to anyone who needs them.

In 2020, Scotland became the first country in the world to make period products freely available.

Surrey County Council set up a a scheme in 2021 to offer free period products in selected locations across the county.