Period Products (Free Provision) – Statement of Provision
The Period Products (Free Provision) Act was first introduced as a Private Members Bill in October 2021. It progressed through the NI Assembly before receiving Royal Assent in May 2022.
The Act considers Period Products essential items for personal care and should therefore be available to everyone who needs them, regardless of their economic status.
Period Products (Free Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
The Period Products (Free Provision) Act has two broad policy objectives:
- Section 1 - To place a duty on the Executive Office to ensure that period products are available free of charge on a universal basis in appropriate locations; and
- Section 2 - To require all Departments to specify by way of regulations public service bodies who have a duty to ensure period products are obtainable free of charge in their premises.
The Executive Office is responsible for implementing the section 1 duty and the part of the section 2 duty that relates to TEO. A public consultation sought views on the types of products to be provided, the possible locations, and how to access the products. The consultation ran for 12 weeks from June to September 2023. Stakeholders were encouraged to respond, and a social media campaign was launched to raise awareness.
Free Period Products Public Consultation
The consultation received a total of 1647 responses of which 94% were from individuals and 6% from organisations. An overwhelming nine out of ten respondents would use free products if available. The consultation report and equality screening document is available here.
Period Products will be made available free of charge from 13 May 2024. Further information can be found in the links below:
- Period Products (Free Provision) Bill Northern Ireland Assembly
- Period Products (Free Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 legislation.gov.uk
How to get free period products
If you or someone you know needs period products, you can get them for free in libraries (including mobile libraries) .
You can collect period products for yourself or someone else can collect them for you. There are different types of products to choose from and you can take as many as you need.
Information on pick up points is available via nidirect and Libraries NI:
Period Products (Free Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022: Report by the Northern Ireland Executive May 2022 – May 2025
The Executive is required to review and make a report on the operation of the provisions of the Period Products (Free Provision) Act (NI) 2022. The first report covering the period May 2022- May 2025 is available here.
Guidance to ‘Specified Public Service Bodies’ on Sections 2 and 6 of the Period Products (Free Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022
Under the Period Products (Free Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, specified public service bodies of the Executive Office have a statutory duty to provide free period products on their premises, for anyone who needs to use them.
This publication provides guidance to those bodies on administering their duties under the Act. The Guidance is available here.