Statistical information on the first year of implementation of the Menstrual Products: FOI release

Information requested

Statistical information on the first year of implementation of the Menstrual Products Act 2021 in Scotland in the context of benchmarking the methods used to provide free menstrual protection, as well as the cost and number of people concerned.

We have interpreted your request as relating to the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 (the Act).

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. This is because statistical information on benchmarking the methods used to provide period products is not routinely collated by the Scottish Government. However, where information is available, it has been provided.

FUNDING

To support delivery of the Act, which came into force on 15 August 2022, we have allocated funding totalling £12,852,379 over the financial years 2022-23 to 2023-24.

This is broken down by year in Table 1 below.

Table 1 – Total funding provided over the two financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24

Financial Year	Local Authorities	Colleges	Universities	Bid-In Fund	FareShare	Total
2022-23	£4,868,000	£357,250	£944,750	£161,900	£24,515	£6,356,415
2023-24	£4,868,000	£357,250	£880,000	£390,714	-	£6,495,964

The funding is allocated by financial year, which means we are unable to break down funding specifically relating to the first year of implementation of the Act, covering the period from 15 August 2022 to 14 August 2023. As a result, please note the following points with regard to the figures provided –

• financial year 2022-23 includes funding for the voluntary provision of access to free period products in colleges, universities and community settings in place up to and including 14 August 2022, which is prior to the Act coming into force.
• £24,515 awarded to FareShare (covering August 2023 and September 2023) is to deliver access to free period products to low income families through third sector partners.
• financial year 2023-24 includes funding beyond 14 August 2023, which is after the first year of implementation.

FUNDING METHODOLOGY & DISTRIBUTION

The methodology used in the calculation and distribution of funding to the relevant bodies covered by the Act can be found in attached Annexes A to D.

ANNUAL BID-IN FUND

Where annual funding allocations have been, or are expected to be, fully spent before the end of the financial year, local authorities, colleges and universities can apply for additional funding through a Bid- In Fund to support delivery of their duties under the Act.

As part of the requirements for the Bid-In Fund, applicants are required to provide a breakdown of their spend so far in that financial year.

In addition, any colleges and universities that are awarded additional funding via the Bid-In Fund are required to provide a report on how this funding was spent. We hold this data for the financial year 2022-23.

A breakdown of the information from the Bid-In Fund applications and funding reports from colleges and universities is held at Table 2 below.

Table 2[1] - Data from Applications made to the Bid-In Fund and the 2022-23 funding reports from colleges and universities

	Financial Year 2022-23				Financial Year 2023-24
Spend type	Number of  individual products	Number of boxes	Number of cartons	Amount spent	Number of individual products	Number of boxes	Amount spent
Single-use period products	578,436		13,152	£77,574	1,744,444	19,020	£344,173
Reusable period products	11,037			£39,485	54,191		£308,578
Additional period products	4,069			£48,335	4,087		£63,169
All period products*	58,575	4,000		£65,238	13,750		£230,549
Admin costs				£153,772			£357,262
Postage costs**							£73,001
Total***	652,117	4,000	13,152	£384,404	1,816,472	19,020	£1,376,732

[1] Please note the figures presented in the table include data from all Bid-In Fund applications, regardless of whether the application progressed to the consideration stage.

*provided only where a breakdown of single-use/reusable products was unavailable.

** postage costs were collated as part of admin costs for 2022-23

***additional data on monitoring and distribution of products from Shetland Islands Local Authority and West Lothian College, submitted as part of their Bid-In Fund applications, are provided in attached

Annexes E to G.

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you have any additional questions on the Scottish Government’s approach in providing access to free period products, please contact the Fairer Scotland Team direct at financialwellbeing@gov.scot, who would be happy to help you.

You may also find our access to free period products webpage of use.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202400395524 - Information Released - Annexes A to G

File type

20 page PDF

File size

530.9 kB