If it takes a village to raise a child, then the welfare and ability to thrive of all our children is the responsibility of all of us to get right.

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16^th June 2025

FAO: Rt Hon Lucy Powell MP

Leader of the House of Commons and

Chair of the Modernisation Committee

Sent via email. 

Dear Lucy,

RE: Provision of period products on the Parliamentary Estate

We are writing to you regarding the provision of free period products across the parliamentary estate. The current protocol states ‘period products for emergency use are available free of charge in selected toilets across the parliamentary estate’. This is simply not fit for purpose – those who need to access period products must be able to do so across the entirety of the estate. It is not feasible, or indeed fair, that menstruating individuals should have to either pay or source a map to find where they can access the sanitary products they need, in the middle of their working day.

Research conducted in 2023 found 21% of women and people who menstruate in the UK struggle to afford period products. Not only does this cause financial worries as well as potential embarrassment and anxiety, but it can also result in serious health conditions.

Access to period products is a matter of dignity, health and equality. Whilst the UK Parliament has made good progress in becoming a more modern workplace, there is still some way to go. Looking to our counterparts in the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd and the Northern Irish Assembly, they have all implemented provision of free period products within their Parliament. We need to lead by example and ensure that no one who works in these buildings here in Westminster is disadvantaged by a lack of access to essential sanitary products.

We therefore ask that period products be provided free of charge in every toilet across the Parliamentary estate, as soon as is possible, to ensure that Parliament is an accessible workspace for all.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

We very much look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Sally Donald, Co-Chair of the ParliGender Committee & Head of Office to Graham Leadbitter MP

Sadik Al-Hassan MP

Paula Barker MP

Lorraine Beavers MP

Apsana Begum MP

Siân Berry MP

Matt Bishop MP

Kirsty Blackman MP

Chris Bloore MP

Ian Byrne MP

Ellie Chowns MP

Daisy Cooper MP

Jeremy Corbyn MP

Emily Darlington MP

Carla Denyer MP

Dave Doogan MP

Graeme Downie MP

Sarah Edwards MP

Kirith Entwistle MP

Neil Duncan-Jordan MP

Stephen Flynn MP

Stephen Gethins MP

Olly Glover MP

Gill Furniss MP

Jodie Gosling MP

Amanda Hack MP

Kim Johnson MP

Mary Kelly Foy MP

Uma Kumaran MP

Chris Law MP

Graham Leadbitter MP

Seamus Logan MP

Helen Maguire MP

John McDonnell MP

John Milne MP

Grahame Morris MP

Susan Murray MP

Joe Powell MP

Yasmin Qureshi MP

Martin Rhodes MP

Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP

Anna Sabine MP

Will Stone MP

Zarah Sultana MP
Pete Wishart MP

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See the full letter and the response below:

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Read our open letter below:

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With my Green MP colleagues I have written to the Prime Minister on changes to Winter Fuel Payment eligibility.

See the full letter below:

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Read our full letter below:

The post My letter to the Prime Minister regarding Alaa Abd El – Fattah appeared first on Siân Berry MP.

Read my full letter and the response below:

The post My letter to Bridget Phillipson regarding the Supreme Court ruling appeared first on Siân Berry MP.

See my submission to Ofcom’s Universal Service Obligation consultation below:

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Read Siân’s letter and the response from the Minister for Social Security and disability below.

The Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
By Email

Dear Liz,

I am writing with initial questions and concerns following the publication by your department of the Green Paper, Pathways to Work, which I believe will be harmful to Disabled people and those unable to work due to health concerns.

When I asked a question in the House following the publication of the Green Paper, I stressed how vital it is for the voices of Disabled people to be reflected in any proposals for changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and disability benefits. I asked for co-production of any reforms, and cited a powerful letter sent by 25 Disabled people’s groups and charities ahead of your statement, which begged for their views to be reflected in plans to fix the flaws in current welfare policies and processes, not just consultation as an afterthought.

With over 100 groups and charities having now signed this open letter, Ministers need to provide meaningful opportunities to engage for these hugely respected organisations and offer assurances that the Government is willing to amend the Green Paper proposals. An equality impact assessment (EIA) should have been published alongside the Green Paper. I understand it will be published this week and believe it will show significant negative
impacts on many young and Disabled people, as well as those with mental health issues.

Could you set out a clear timeframe for the next steps?

Could you give me concrete details of how and when you will talk with the signatories of the open letter and take steps towards the co-production of any welfare changes?

If the proposals are assessed as harmful to Disabled people, young people and those with mental health issues, could you confirm that the plans will not proceed?

In response to my question, you invited me to write to you with particular issues and concerns and offered a meeting with your ministers. I look forward to that meeting and will respond to the consultation once I have discussed the plans further with constituents and representative groups, but I would also like to provide some initial observations here.

1. Young people

The context for any changes to how young people can claim benefits is very important. Young people have been let down by multiple failures of multiple previous governments, coupled with the legacy of disruption caused by the pandemic.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is often impossible for children and young people to access, with figures from 2022-2023 revealing that 6,300 children waited over two years, with an average wait of more than three years before finally receiving treatment. This must be addressed before your Government makes any moves to remove vital financial support.

I fear that the proposal to delay access to the health element of Universal Credit for those under the age of 22 will be very harmful to vulnerable young adults, preventing them from accessing the support they need to thrive. Could you confirm which organisations representing young people you will be engaging with and that, if the proposals are assessed by the planned consultation to be harmful to under 22’s, the plans will not
proceed?

2. Accessibility and engagement

The failure to publish the Green Paper in an accessible format at the same time as presenting plans to Parliament is concerning. This approach to accessibility is not good enough. Will you firmly commit to publishing any further information about welfare changes in formats that can be accessed by Disabled people from the start?

Will you also set out what further steps you will take to enable and encourage individual Disabled people to respond to the consultation?

3. Increased resources for advocacy and community advice services

After 15 years of local authority austerity, including cost pressures on the third sector exacerbated by recent changes to National Insurance, advocacy support to help people complete benefit applications is becoming harder to access for many people.

A leading advice charity in Brighton and Hove which helps Disabled people to access work and welfare benefits has explained to me that:

“Employment and Advice services are cut to our knees. Year-on-year cuts in funding through local government, cuts in support services through central and local funding, and grant bodies moving away from advice support. This upcoming year we will need to reduce our staff again by half. We are currently only able to open three days a week, but the number of enquiries is higher than when we were open every day.”

Will you confirm that, if and when changes are progressed, advice services will be given additional resources to cope with the likely increased demand for support and independent advice?

4. Divisive and stigmatising language

All people, irrespective of their health and subsequent ability to work, have the right to feel hope, dignity and self-respect. There has been a significant volume of loaded language in the lead up to the publication of the Green Paper which has concerned me greatly.

Ministers have a moral responsibility to not stoke division and tensions in our communities but, in recent weeks the language used has exacerbated stigma and fear. Accusations of people being ‘trapped’ on benefits and the ‘overdiagnosis’ of mental health issues, in my view serve to stigmatise those who struggle to work.

Instead, we should be rebuilding confidence in our social security system. Welfare reform pushed through under a cuts agenda to reduce national spending by £5 billion will not rebuild this confidence.

Going forward, I acknowledge the current work capability assessment (WCA) for Universal Credit and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is not fit for purpose, we do not suggest a do-nothing approach.

There are alternatives and many people have been clear that the Government could and should consider a simple wealth tax to provide the investment in people that is sorely needed. A 2 per cent tax on assets over £10 billion would raise £24 billion a year; a measure supported by 68 per cent of the public.

This popular and fair tax option must be on the table alongside other measures which would increase the income generated from those most able to contribute to the welfare of society, and I hope that you will advocate for it within Cabinet.

I look forward to your response to my questions above and further clarity on the next steps
from your department on these policies.

Yours sincerely,

Siân Berry MP
Green Party, Brighton Pavilion

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