Council bosses have come under fire after it emerged over £55,000 in Scottish government funding to tackle period poverty in Perth and Kinross remains unspent.
The council was allocated £13,598 for project set-up costs and £10,560 for product allocation for the year 2018/19 and then a further £42,600 for the following year – a total of £66,758.
However, to date only £8,650 has been used, despite numerous suggestion on how to spend the money from Perth-based charity PKAVS and other interested organisations.
PKAVS consulted 600 women and girls, who suggested action to tackle period poverty, including normalising access to sanitary products and addressing the stigma around menstruation.
Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Alexander Stewart, said “serious questions” needed to be asked after he learned the proposals had not been acted upon and large sums of money remained unspent.
Mr Stewart said: “Any suggestions of creative approaches from PKAVS on how to use the money has been disregarded by the council.
“These included suggestions to open the pot of funding up to other organisations who could submit ideas for how to promote the scheme to women and girls across Perth and Kinross and tackle the issue of stigma around periods more broadly.
“There also appears to be concerns about capacity to undertake the work required to make this a success for women and girls in Perth and Kinross.”
The lack of spending came to light when the charity hosted a session for the Scottish Government’s local government and communities committee earlier this year which was attended by Mr Stewart.
PKAVS said it was still working with the council on pilot schemes to provide free sanitary products around the region.
Paul Graham, chief executive of PKAVS, said: “Partnership working can sometimes take a bit longer than we would all want.
“However I am hopeful that following the further impetus provided by the Scottish Parliament’s local government and communities excellent consultation event we will make more progress in improving access to free sanitary products to women and girls across Perth and Kinross.”
A council spokesperson said: “Perth and Kinross Council together with PKAVS and other local partners has already provided free sanitary products in 37 public venues around the Perth and Kinross area.
“We know period poverty is a real problem for many women and together with NHS Tayside, PKAVS and others we are fully committed to doing more to extend the number of venues where women and girls can access free sanitary products in the future.”
