The fifth item is a statement by the Minister for Social Justice on period dignity. I call on the Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt.

Diolch yn fawr, Deputy Llywydd. Periods are natural. They are not a choice. We all either have them, have had them, or know people who do. They are not dirty and they are not something to be ashamed of. No-one should be disadvantaged because they have periods. Everyone should have access to period products, as and when they need them, to use in a private space that is safe and dignified. But, unfortunately, this is not always the case.

We last held a debate on this issue in 2018, when research by Plan International brought to light the impact of period poverty on girls in the UK. Four years on, people in Wales are facing an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, fuelled by soaring energy bills. The Bevan Foundation's snapshot of poverty in December revealed that more than a third of Welsh households do not have enough money to buy anything beyond everyday essentials. I speak to stakeholders about this issue often. I have heard directly from women in Wales that, when choosing between paying for food, rent, bills or period products, period products are the first item to be left off the list. And let me just say that again: there are people in Wales today who are forced to go without basic period care so that they can feed their children. The Welsh Government cannot, and will not, accept this.

That is why, earlier this month, the Welsh Government committed an additional £110,000 to local authorities in Wales to ensure community venues such as foodbanks and libraries are fully stocked with free period products to assist those most in need. We are also allocating over £400,000 to expanding the reach of the grant in 2022-23, and this is in addition to the £3.3 million we already provide every year to schools, colleges and community groups across Wales. And it's also why we're working to ensure that there are free products in women's refuges across Wales. We've been committed to addressing period poverty for many years, and, since 2018, we've provided over £9 million of funding to ensure there are products available in every school and college in Wales and across communities for those on low incomes. We established the period dignity round-table, bringing together expert stakeholders, activists and young people to work together, and the round-table has offered advice and counsel throughout our work on period dignity, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank its members for their support.

The closure of schools and community settings during the peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic brought challenges in ensuring period products reached those in need and, according to research by Plan International, over 1 million girls in the UK struggled to afford or access period products during the pandemic. In Wales, we worked with local authorities to ensure that, even in lockdown, individuals had the products they needed. Welsh local authorities found innovative and creative ways of serving their communities, including sending products directly to people's homes, setting up subscription services and offering vouchers, and I'd like to acknowledge the positive response by all our local authority partners during this extraordinarily difficult time.

There, of course, is more work to do to ensure period products are reaching everyone who needs them, and we're committed to identifying and responding to our communities' needs. Just this morning, we brought local authorities together to share best practice and to consider how we ensure products are reaching under-served communities. But the provision of products is just the beginning of the work. Tackling period poverty is a priority for the Welsh Government, but, if we truly want to break the shame and stigma associated with menstruation, then we must broaden our ambitions and work to achieve period dignity for all.

So, what do we mean by period dignity? It means prioritising the eradication of period poverty and addressing the range of issues that affect a person's experience of periods across their lifetime. Period dignity considers the link between periods and broader health issues, which is particularly important as we mark the beginning of national Endometriosis Awareness Month. Period dignity also considers the environmental impact of many single-use plastic products, the impact of managing menstruation in the workplace, in education, and on engaging in sport and culture.

To achieve this definition of period dignity, we need to take cross-Government action, and that's why we will publish our period dignity strategic action plan later this year, and the plan considers period dignity for those with intersecting protected characteristics and seeks to make provision for additional challenges or cultural requirements. Period dignity and period poverty are children's rights matters, but the plan also takes a life-course approach to achieving period dignity by considering support for those who are going through the perimenopause and menopause too.

We've set out a number of ambitious actions to help achieve our vision, including a campaign to start a national conversation about periods to bust myths and tackle stigma; a commitment for 90 per cent to 100 per cent of all products bought under the period dignity grant to be plastic-free, made with reduced plastic or reusable by 2026; ensuring educational and practical period dignity resources are available to businesses across Wales to expand period dignity in the private sector; promotion of workplace policies on period dignity and the menopause; funding education and training programmes to promote the use of reusable products; and developing an interactive period-product map to help individuals find free products in their areas. Finally, education, of course, is also crucial in achieving our aim for period dignity. I'm delighted the relationships and sexuality education code and statutory guidance includes the teaching of menstrual well-being at developmentally appropriate phases. It will provide learners with the knowledge and confidence to seek support and to deal with the physical and emotional changes that occur throughout their lives.

I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to Children in Wales, Women Connect First, Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales and our period dignity round-table members for their ongoing advocacy and their support as we turn our shared vision into reality. And I'm confident, by working in partnership, we will achieve our vision to live in a Wales where no-one is ashamed or embarrassed about periods and can speak openly and confidently about them, whether or not they have periods. Diolch.

Conservative spokesperson, Laura Anne Jones.

Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you for your statement, Minister. It is very welcome and we on these benches completely support aims to eradicate period poverty and ensure period dignity in Wales. This is something that not just affects a small minority, Deputy Presiding Officer, but half of our population. It is a massive issue and it's something that actually should have been dealt with a long time ago.

For those that were in the last Senedd, and you may recall, Minister, I spoke about how we cannot always rely on parents and families to educate and talk openly about such important subjects as periods, which is often hard to understand for those families for whom it is quite the norm to talk openly about these things, but is a very real issue, for a myriad of reasons. And I was one of those girls that didn't see it coming or knew what to do about it, and I often found it very difficult to talk about it, so to stand up now is quite something for me. But it's something that needs to be talked about.

I said during the education Bill debates in that last Senedd that I was encouraged by the opportunity that the new curriculum provides in this regard to educate on, in an age-appropriate manner, important subjects such as these and to ensure that all children are armed with the knowledge that they need. We need to give all girls and young women full and proper education on periods within the RSE to make sure that this education will cover from the start of getting your period to the menopausal stage, including vital information on conditions such as endometriosis, which my good friend and former colleague MS Suzy Davies passionately campaigned for to be part of the new curriculum during previous Senedds.

But, alongside education, we also need to ensure, in my view—as a basic human right, I would argue—that sanitary products are available to all those that need them, and, as you say, Minister, in a discreet manner, and for free, particularly those in educational settings. As we know, Minister, children and young people spend a large part of their week in an educational setting and are likely to start their periods or have periods during that day. We, of course, welcome this Government's commitment to providing free products to educational settings since 2018, but what this Government hasn't yet ensured is the discreet delivery of those products within our schools. Currently we have a situation where pupils have to ask the teachers to go and unlock a cupboard to go and get them sanitary products. This doesn't strike me as discreet or in any way dignified for these girls to access what they need, especially, for example, if it's a male teacher that has to be asked. I would certainly have been too shy myself to ask for such things in school. There needs to be a more permanent solution and a more discreet solution. I would suggest something along the lines of permanent structures in our loos in secondary schools and colleges across Wales in the form of maybe a vending machine distributing these products, of which, of course, the products would be free, and arguably a more permanent solution offering in primary schools also, for, as we know, Minister, many girls are early starters in this regard. 

Many girls I know, including myself, had a bad experience and was caught short. Luckily, there is no longer tracing-paper-like loo roll in our schools, but we absolutely need to ensure that all girls are armed with everything they need, including sanitary products that are easily accessibly to them. Therefore, can I ask, Minister, that you assure this Senedd today that you will do absolutely everything in your power to ensure a dignified solution to the provision of sanitary products in Wales in the shape of permanent distribution machines in our loos? I've talked to many schools in the last few months and there is a very real problem—an obvious problem—in the school delivery stage, and it's going against what you are aiming to do and what we all hope and we want to achieve. 

Also, of course, you've outlined in your statement that some girls and women from families simply cannot afford sanitary products, exacerbated, as you say, by the pandemic. And, horrendously, due to their expense, they are not often bought, to ensure that families instead can be fed. And you're right, Minister, this cannot continue. 

The Welsh Conservatives also agree with you, Minister, when you talk about extending support to local authorities in Wales to ensure community venues, such as foodbanks and libraries, are fully stocked with period products to assist those most in need—free, of course. Therefore, Minister, through my own knowledge, I'm also aware of the need for this to be extended into sports clubs throughout our country, so I'd ask that those plans extend to them also so that we never have to see another girl or woman having to forgo sport because of a natural bodily function. 

Minister, I was delighted to see that, with our children and young being so very conscious of the environmental impacts and their wanting to actively do something about it, that you have a commitment, which was going to be my main question, to ensure that 90 per cent to 100 per cent of our products that are brought with Welsh Government money are plastic free, something that an incredible local Welsh campaigner, Molly Fenton, who's only aged 19, has heavily campaigned for. It is absolutely right that we take an environmentally cautious approach to this. So, Minister, what checks will be put in place to ensure that this is happening, please, and will the Welsh Government be proactive in helping our schools and local authorities in providing them with the right contacts to enable them to do this? Diolch.

Diolch yn fawr, Laura Anne, and thank you for such a constructive—. You know, it is all of us, women here, will know what you've been saying about your experiences, sadly. We've got to make such a change, haven't we? But actually, I think one of the things that I said in my statement is that one of our aims is to have this national conversation, so we're starting that today. And it is a conversation that we all need to have, and, in fact, the provision of those grants back in 2018 enabled local authorities to start having the conversations and schools as well.

But I want to just start on your point about relationships and sexuality education, because, of course, you were here when we were discussing this. I'd like to thank Suzy Davies, particularly—former MS, Suzy Davies—for raising the profile of menstrual well-being particularly during the scrutiny of the curriculum and assessment Bill, advocating for its inclusion in the RSE code. There is so much opportunity with the new curriculum in terms of the teaching of menstrual well-being at developmentally appropriate phases in life, and also providing our pupils, our school students, with the knowledge and confidence to seek support and deal with those physical and emotional changes that occur through life. 

Now, I was very fortunate this morning to meet with a group of pupils from two local schools, from Radnor Primary School and Fitzalan High School. I asked to meet with them because they've been involved with Children in Wales in helping us respond to the consultation we've had on period dignity. It was wonderful that I had two young student pupils from Radnor Primary School, two girls, and then two boys and two girls from Fitzalan High School, and they'd all been involved in having workshops and discussions. Interestingly, at Fitzalan, they decided to have the boys and girls together for these discussions—all year 7 got involved in it and year 8 as well. And in Radnor, also years 5 and 6. So, they really spoke from the heart and from their experience. It was very revealing.

And I think it's just important that those schools, every local authority, every further education college, have actually accepted our offer of the period dignity grant since 2018. They've run with the scheme, they've learned ways of distributing products, they've tackled stigma. I actually asked them what did they think 'stigma' meant and they were spot on, they said that it's when you're pushed out to look different or you're made to feel different. They were just so clear about how they felt. They told us of changes in the school, where they used to have to go and pick up products in the corridor and now it was in a place where they felt comfortable to go. But as they all said, why should we feel embarrassed about picking up the products? But they were excellent.

I just want to say quickly that we've got to look at the impact of funding, we've got to reach out to those under-served communities; we've got to look to new locations to make the products available. We're doing an evaluation of the grant this year, and the key thing is to listen to those with lived experience of periods and also how it's being managed in schools. And what's interesting is that we did also discuss the fact that their school councils could get involved and put it on the agenda of the school councils. They really taught me so much very quickly just by being together, and I'm sure that other Senedd Members across the Chamber will find that they want to learn; the boys wanted to engage and they were talking about, actually, dads, fathers and male teachers engaging as well, which is crucially important, because it has to be shared by all.

So, just, Molly Fenton, I think we all know, is a very empowering young woman in terms of environmental impacts, and many of us have young people like this in our constituencies to make sure that we reach that target. We've said that 90 to 100 per cent of all period products have to be reusable or eco-friendly by 2026, but we've got to trial this. We've got to recognise that this is not something that's easy, straightforward; you also need to think about facilities within schools in terms of the loos, et cetera, private spaces, washbasins, private access to those. But we have, actually, also—and it's come from local authorities—agreed to spend 20 per cent of the period dignity grant on education or training, which is going to include information on reusable and eco-friendly products.

I think, just finally to say that I've said, in my statement—in response to your point about sport, for example, and access to wider facilities—that this has to be cross-Government action. That's cross-Government action that doesn't just involve me as Minister for Social Justice, but clearly the education Minister, health, mental health and well-being, children and sport. We've all got a role to play in this, as, indeed, everyone in this Chamber has.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Sioned Williams.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you, Minister, for the statement.

The first campaign I ever ran was on something related to period dignity. Similarly to Laura Anne Jones, we've been there. I remember we had outdoor loos in the comprehensive school I went to, which used to freeze in the winter. They were awful, awful things. And I remember that there weren't bins inside the cubicles for sanitary products, so you had to, you know, at a tender 12 years of age, troop out of the cubicle with your used sanitary product, put it in the bin in full view of everybody else. The teachers took all the girls into a room to give us a row because we were blocking the toilets, and I pointed out that there was a reason for that. My voice wasn't heard at the time, because unfortunately the learner voice wasn't as valued as much then as it is today. Thankfully, that has changed.

We know that the most vulnerable people in our society are the most badly affected by a lack of period dignity and period poverty, including people who are already facing homelessness, on low incomes, have disabilities, and suffer from systemic discrimination because they are members of peripheral groups. These are the people who have to go without other fundamentals, cut back on their limited budgets for other everyday goods, or who have to cope with the impact of a lack of period products or facilities.

Even before the cost-of-living crisis has an even greater impact on these people, the disgraceful poverty levels in Wales meant that far too many found themselves in this situation. And I'm proud of the efforts of Plaid Cymru and the successful campaign led by Elyn Stephens, a young Plaid Cymru councillor on Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council at the time, back in 2017, who highlighted the impact of period poverty and secured additional funding for councils to try and tackle this problem ultimately. And I agree with the Minister that it is inevitable that the cost-of-living crisis will intensify period poverty and a lack of period dignity, and therefore it's crucial that we do more to prevent the detrimental impact it will have on people who are under unprecedented economic pressures and, more broadly, on social, economic, health and gender equality.

It's a lack of income that, very often, is at the heart of a lack of dignity. The pandemic has also had an impact on the ability of young people to access support and to access period products in education facilities, as you mentioned in your statement. I welcome the additional funding and resources that have been provided by Government to tackle this problem, but I would like to know how the Government will ensure that the increasing number of people who are facing poverty and who need period products are supported during the cost-of-living crisis—beyond educational establishments, perhaps, and the public spaces that we've already discussed. Is the Minister asking local partners who receive this financial support to tackle this issue to report on their effectiveness in ensuring that those who need the support do receive it? What needs to be improved, Minister? As you mentioned, there are people who have to make choices that, in twenty-first century Wales, they should never have to make. So, how is that evaluation taking place?

Currently, the lack of period education and stigma around periods has resulted, unfortunately, in many young people who have periods lacking knowledge about what normal menstruation should be like. In most cases, period pain should not be completely debilitating or unbearable. However, we have created a society where some young people having periods are either expected to deal with the pain and accept that it's a normal part of their life, or, in many cases, the severity of the pain is not believed.

I welcome and support the fact that through education we can change this. I'm glad the new relationships and sexuality education code and statutory guidance will help ensure that learners have the knowledge to better understand menstrual health.

But the impact of heavy periods, of gynaecological conditions, will stay with an individual for life, and it does impact their education and their work. So, given this and given this month is Endometriosis Action Month, I would like to know how the Welsh Government is helping to foster a culture where people who are menstruating are given the space and dignity to take time off education or work without this impacting adversely on them, such as facing disciplinary action or missing out on education. Diolch.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

Diolch, Sioned Williams, clearly a campaigner all your life from that time as a very powerful school student. You had that protest in your school and made a difference, showing the courage of your convictions and also bringing people together so that they could feel empowered by your statement. And, of course, we know that that has been reflected by many campaigners that have been mentioned this afternoon, and we need those voices. The young people I met today from Radnor Primary School and Fitzalan were certainly all of the same ilk as well, and really wanting to address many of the issues that you have reflected on.

I do see this very much as part of my role as Minister for Social Justice, so, yes, we had a very powerful round-table summit on tackling the cost-of-living crisis only on 17 February. We focused very much on fuel poverty, not enough on food poverty, and we're going to follow that up, so this statement today and your comments will feed directly into how we take forward our period dignity action plan. I think, in many ways, the sad thing is that we were talking about period poverty, we moved it into period dignity, but, actually, it is back so harshly: it is period poverty, except for the fact that we are reaching out and providing this grant.

Over the coming years—well, coming year—we're looking to widen provision, which was your question, for example, to include sexual health clinics, other local services. We've got to recognise at every age, it's not just school, it's young and older—all-age women until they reach the menopause. I didn't mention the fact that it was very important that we got FE colleges, that they're part of it as well as schools, but also they're available to all in-patients in hospitals.

A very strong message came over today from young people that they'd like this to be universal. The stigma, partly, is around periods, but also, they didn't want some people to have to just have this free product, they wanted everyone. I think you mentioned that, Laura Anne. This should be universal provision.

We even talked today about ways in which we could reach out to other young girls and women who perhaps, for example, we wouldn't necessarily—. How do we support the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities? Reaching out to them. And we actually did have a lot of sessions with Children in Wales, with Women Connect First, looking at the experiences of different people with different protected characteristics. We want to really ensure that we get through to those under-served communities.

We're constantly searching for new locations, not just in foodbanks. Yes, foodbanks are now, clearly, a place where period products are made available, but there was one suggestion today that perhaps we could look at, and I could imagine it's going to be something we'd have to pilot or trial to actually have period products delivered, like we did during the lockdown, directly to young people's homes, so that this is just something that happens: you get your period products. And also the fact that it's very important that you talked about the effectiveness of what we're doing at the moment. The evaluation will be important as we take this forward, but at this point in time we have to maintain that funding element, we have to ensure that we get it right and reach out to all of the other venues and places where it can be provided. It's something where I again think—and I'm glad that the Minister for education has joined us as well—that it's a learning thing. It's really great when you saw these young boys and girls today actually saying, 'Yes, we want to think about it, because we want to think about it in terms of our mothers as well as our sisters and our fellow pupils in school.'

Thank you very much for the statement. I was just listening carefully to what you've been saying and I also think we do need to think about the sustainability of what we're doing, because dignity is fantastically important and we need to ensure that everybody has the period products they need to deal with their monthly periods, but we also have to think about the environment and how we can promote reusable products where appropriate. I was talking to somebody in one of the poorer parts of my constituency the other day and she pointed out that you're only allowed to go to the foodbank three times, I think, so although you might be able to pick up some non-reusable period products, it won't get you through if you can't actually go back. So, I just wondered how much work is being done on promoting Mooncups for those women who are sexually active—I wouldn't give a Mooncup to an 11-year-old who had just got their first period—but also to reusable pants and pads so that the people who do need to get help financially with their period products actually still have them in month four and month five. Obviously, this has an implication, for example, in how we design our school toilets, as Sioned Williams has already talked about so visibly. We need to ensure that in every secondary school, and in the older age groups in primary schools, there is access to toilets with a hand-wash basin built into the toilet so that people can change their products with dignity.

I think it's fantastic that we're having this conversation here this afternoon, because I was just looking up an early day motion that was written in the House of Commons in January 2021 in response to the fact that VAT has been lifted on tampons and throwaway pads but not on the reusable ones. Only 31 people in the whole of the House of Commons, including, I have to say, one of the initiators, Jim Shannon, Democratic Unionist Party, good man—. Why is it that out of 630 Members of Parliament, only 31 of them think that this is an important issue? I just wondered what conversations you might have had with the UK Government to try and get them to see the thing holistically and to ensure that we're removing VAT on the reusable products as well, because they're the ones we want most people to be using. They're not suitable for somebody who's camping or in temporary accommodation and who hasn't got a washing machine, but for other people they're absolutely the right thing to do.

Thank you very much, Jenny Rathbone. I do remember well—I think probably we co-signed and debated it together—putting the motion forward a few years back on period poverty and period dignity, and that started the conversation in this Chamber. It is very important that we look at the environmental impact issues in terms of the use of reusable or eco-friendly products. We did discuss that as well with the young people this morning, because they're also very concerned about it. They've got eco committees, they're very concerned about climate change and environmental impacts as well, but it's not going to necessarily be within the period products that have been provided that they have those prospects of choice beyond pads and tampons. We did discuss the fact that, again, reusable products like Mooncups, cloth pads, period pants and reusable tampon applicators could—. They wanted to discuss it, but this has to be a whole-school thing. This is also a whole-school awareness. I'm sure Jeremy will also recognise himself, and others too, that when you go to schools and new schools, I'm always saying, 'Where is the toilet with the washbasin actually in the room?' It can't just be the disabled toilet.

We've got to think this in every aspect of our sustainable learning, because it is about sustainable learning and a whole-system approach. We know, in fact, that this whole teaching of menstrual well-being through the relationship and sexuality education has to take on board the fact that, also, there can be pain and misery as well, which, so often—. These young people today, of the ages of year 7 to year 8 or 9, were still experiencing some of the things that us older generation women experienced, and that should not be the case. But they were so pleased that they were actually coming in to talk to a Minister about it, and felt that we were taking it seriously. I know that the points that have been made today will be very important to them. I'm going to share the statement, and I'm sure they'd like to also have the transcript of this statement as well.

Thank you for this very important statement. I'd like to declare that I am a councillor on RCT council, and I was part of the working group that looked at this. I was pleased to hear Sioned mention Elyn Stephens. She was extremely brave, as a young woman, coming into a council and starting to talk about periods. You should have seen the shock on the face of the councillors and they felt uncomfortable, but if you change the word 'period' for 'going to the toilet' and talk about toilet paper, which is exactly what Elyn did, then people start to listen. I think that's the thing here—if we were talking about toilet paper, it's a no brainer, but because it doesn't affect everybody then we're not having that same discussion. I would imagine that if we were having a debate on toilet roll, this Chamber would be full, because this is an issue that's important to men and women—each and every one of us—and that's what's important in terms of having this discussion.

Education is crucially important, not just for girls and young women, so that they understand what's happening to their bodies, but to those young men who will be friends and employers in the future, because that's very often where we can provide the greatest support. In my previous role, I was given training in terms of the menopause. There was a policy in National Museum Wales to raise awareness of the menopause across the board, and we had menopause champions. It's useful for me—I haven't got to that age yet, but I learned so much, and also in terms of how to manage people who are going through the menopause. It's extremely important that we are open about these issues.

I think the main thing that's a challenge to us all are the points that have already been raised in terms of inconsistency—the inconsistency in terms of accessing products in schools, the right even to go to the toilet that people have to ask permission for now, and this idea that there is a power dynamic where teachers can prevent you from going to the toilet in case somebody does something. Well, people were throwing wet toilet paper onto the ceiling when I was at school. It's entirely absurd. Although the products are available now, we still hear stories about girls bleeding through their clothing because they haven't been given that right to go to the toilet at times. There are inconsistencies. We need to discuss this so that it isn't a problem in contemporary Wales.

This is a fundamental right, it's a matter of dignity, we are all duty bound here to continue to talk about this. I'm extremely proud of Elyn Stephens, when she raised this, because she was challenged and told that it wasn't a problem and that there were plenty of products available. That isn't true. There is still more to be done, and I'm very proud to see this plan in place and to work across parties to ensure this issue of dignity on something that is entirely natural.

Thank you very much indeed, Heledd Fychan. Again, we must pay tribute to all of those pioneers who have made their mark. In terms of local authorities—and I recall when Elyn Stephens was taking this forward—actually, local authorities have embraced this. We have a round-table, we have local authority representation, officers from the council. We must never forget our officers, must we, because councillors can say, 'We want this, we want that', but actually, the officers have to deliver.

I remember Councillor Philippa Marsden, when she became leader of Caerphilly council, coming to a meeting. We haven't got enough women leaders of councils, and it was really great when she came to the meeting, in a busy schedule, because she felt it was so important. Actually, I'm meeting with cross-party cabinet leads on equality issues, and period dignity is high up on the agenda. We've got some great groups, charities—I always remember one in Bridgend, and one in Wrexham—who are doing work. It should not be, going back to the points that were made earlier on, about just being able to get them in the foodbank if you're in that situation. They have got to be available in our schools, and we've got to think of school holidays as well. We can think of this in terms of the school day, actually, and access to this—it's an important part of the consultation.

I think workplace enlightenment is crucially important. It's good to hear that the national museum had that enlightenment about the menopause. I would say that, just on the menopause, the Minister for Health and Social Services is contributing to a UK Government-led menopause taskforce—it's just commenced its work this month. I didn't respond to the point about endometriosis, but we have got our women's health implementation group, and they're also looking at the issues around endometriosis. It's a crucial workplace issue—it's the sort of thing that the equality committee of the Wales TUC also discusses. But we need to look particularly at those under-served communities where we need to reach out.

Just finally, on the issue of school toilets, the very first children's commissioner, Peter Clarke—and I'm talking 20 years ago—when he consulted young people on what they wanted him to take up, they said school toilets. I think that says it all, doesn't it? I think we've transformed, in our wonderful new schools, but it still is an issue. It's the most private and difficult place for girls in terms of periods, but often for boys as well in terms of bullying. It's the school environment that we just need to address when we look at this issue.

Thank you, Minister.