At the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 12 September), the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group will be proposing a motion to address Period Poverty. Councillor Diane Williamson will be proposing and Councillor Hazel Gloster will be seconding the motion.

Councillor Williamson said “it is scandalous that in a country with such wealth as Great Britain young girls should be in a position where they cannot afford sanitary protects and do not want to put pressure on their parents to purchase some, and then they resort to alternatives like using a soak.  It is not right that they feel stigmatised in school and bullied for their body performing its natural function”.

“I am really pleased that Scotland is tackling this by introducing free sanitary products in all education establishments. In Wales, they have invested £1m into introducing packs that are then given out to community groups, schools and foodbanks. This kind of provision needs to be rolled out across England too,” said Councillor Hazel Gloster

“Students who cannot afford sanitary products miss days from school.and consequently their education loses out.  We want all our young people to reach their full potential both inside and outside the classroom and this funding will help to ensure they are properly supported” said Councillor Diane Williamson

In addition to period poverty a punitive taxation policy is in place whereby female hygiene products are classed as a luxury product and VAT is levied on them.

“Come on – live in the real world! When is suffering pain every month and being hygienic a luxury?  It isn’t and should not be treated as such.  So, we need to be doing something about it.  That is why I am pleased to support this motion” said Councillor Williamson.

Motion – Period Poverty

This Council notes that:

A survey by Plan International UK found that 1 in 10 teenage girls had been unable to afford sanitary products;

• 56% of teenage girls said they would rather be bullied at school than talk to their parents about periods;
• This is particularly problematic for girls from low-income families who see their parents struggling to make ends meet and feel reluctant to ask them to add sanitary products to the weekly shop;
• In many cases, as a result, they may lose a significant number of days of schooling;
• Regrettably, even women in low-income employment are sometimes unable to afford such products when struggling to meet household bills and feed their families;
• Ironically only female prisoners have a statutory right to access free sanitary products.

Council believes in a country as well-off as Britain ‘Period Poverty’ is a scandal that should be ended.

Council commends:

• The Scottish Government for its commitment to tackle ‘Period Poverty’ by introducing free sanitary products in all educational establishments, and notes that Scotland was one of the first countries to pilot a scheme to young women and girls in need in Aberdeen;
• The project recently established by the 21^st Oldham Friezland Rangers and the charity Red Box whereby members of the public can donate sanitary products in branded boxes located in prominent places for re-distribution to students in need attending our local schools and colleges.

Council resolves to:

• Ask the Overview and Scrutiny Board and Health and Well-being Board, working with relevant Cabinet Members, officers and partners, to explore with local secondary schools and colleges how sanitary products can be made available free to students in their establishments;
• Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Education and Chancellor asking the Government to scrap the VAT levied on female hygiene products as soon as is practicable and in the meantime to use the VAT collected on these products to fund the provision of free sanitary products for girls and women in need.

Liberal Democrat Councillors Julia Turner and Chris Gloster will be proposing a motion at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 12 September) calling on the Council to outlaw the sale of real fur from all markets in the Borough.

Councillor Turner, who is proposing the motion, said: “Regrettably customers often have no idea that they are buying products which contain real fur as they are often sold under the guise of ‘faux fur’. Real fur is sometimes used for trims on hats, gloves, and footwear, and pom-poms on hats and clothing. Although the UK banned domestic fur farming in 2000, it is still legal to sell products containing some types of real fur that have been imported. Imported fur can be very cheap, but it comes at a price of extreme cruelty to the animals it came from.”

“100 million animals every year are killed for fur. Much of the fur we import into our country comes from China, where there is practically no animal welfare legislation. It comes from animals raised in deplorable conditions and killed by gassing or anal electrocution. There have even been instances filmed of animals being skinned alive. Other animals are cruelly trapped in the wild by steel jawed leg-hold traps. Once caught, many go to great lengths to try to escape, often breaking teeth as they bite the steel trap, sometimes even chewing off their trapped limbs in their desperation.”

The Oldham Liberal Democrats want the Council to become a signatory to the Fur Free Markets campaign of the animal welfare charity, Respect for Animals, the UK’s leading anti-fur organisation, and to work with the charity to ensure that no products containing real fur are sold at the borough’s markets.

Councillor Turner added: “I am sure that the vast majority of shoppers would be horrified to find they had accidentally purchased a real fur product knowing the abominable cruelty that these animals suffer. By working with the charity Respect for Animals, we can ensure that real fur products are banned in Oldham.”

The motion reads:

 This Council notes that:

• The United Kingdom has outlawed the farming of animals for their fur on ethical grounds since 2000 and that the use of one of the most common traps used to catch animals for their fur has been illegal for many years.
• Nonetheless fur products are imported from overseas nations, particularly China, where such bans do not operate and where there is virtually no animal welfare legislation in force.
• Real fur comes from animals raised in deplorable conditions or trapped in the wild and killed inhumanely.
• Regrettably these products are often found for sale on public markets in the UK and customers can inadvertently buy them thinking them to be made of imitation fur.

Accordingly Council resolves to:

• Prohibit the sale of any product wholly or partially made with real animal fur on Council owned land and at Council run or Council leased markets. This ban to cover such items as fur coats, vintage fur, fur shawls, garments with fur trim, fur pompom hats, and fur accessories and trinkets.
• Support the Fur Free Markets campaign of the animal welfare charity, Respect for Animals, the UK’s leading anti-fur organisation, by:
• Becoming a signatory to the initiative.
• Seeking the advice and assistance of the charity in the enforcement of this ban.