Select a region
The Government has spent more than £13,000 on PR for their free period product scheme while just £25,000 has been spent on the products themselves so far – as many islanders continue to report empty dispensers.
£500,000 was allocated to the scheme in a previous Government Plan.
Answering a written question from Reform Jersey Deputy Lyndsay Feltham earlier this week, Social Security Minister Elaine Millar revealed that a total of £46,408 had been drawn from that budget to be spent on the pilot scheme so far.
Of that £46,408, only £25,308 was spent on the products themselves – amounting to just 5% of the budget. The rest was spent on promotion, dispensers, and the fitting of dispensers.
Over £13,000 was spent on the promotion of the scheme.
Following questions from Express, the Government confirmed that £5,400 was spent on radio adverts, £3,150 on digital adverts, £2,500 on posters, £1,850 on social media promotion, and £280 on newspaper adverts.
Pictured: A total of £13,200 was spent on the promotion of the free period product scheme, with £2500 spent on posters alone.
Deputy Lyndsay Feltham told Express: "There was £500,000 set aside this year for this project, so it's really disappointing so see how little has been spent on the products themselves and the project as a whole."
She also noted that there "obviously aren't enough products being supplied as we're still seeing social media posts from women saying they aren't seeing the products".
"You'd think they'd get the delivery [of the scheme] correct before they spent so much money on promoting it," she added.
Pictured: Deputy Elaine Millar revealed the cost of the pilot scheme up to August 2023.
The Deputy continued: "I would question the logic of spending so much on promotion when the products are lacking. Is it in the hope that people will think more is being done than actually is?"
"I'm quite skeptical of the amount being spent on the scheme's promotion and why," she added.
"Perhaps it is simply just a symptom of Government not being joined up enough... maybe the scheme could benefit from some overall direction and management."
Pictured: "I would question the logic of spending so much on promotion when the products are lacking," said Deputy Lyndsay Feltham.
Announcing the scheme's newest locations locations last month, Deputy Millar reiterated that "products are free for all islanders and people can take whatever they need".
However, Deputy Feltham said: "There's clearly not enough being spent on the products themselves.
"If everyone turned up to take the products they needed – as the scheme suggests that we should be able to – then there would be no products left at all."
Snow Hill carpark this morning at 9am. I am yet to see anything in this undignified dispenser. If @GovJersey are going to commit to making sure they are stocked then make sure they are. Granted maybe one of the busiest but I haven't seen one tampon in this one since it launched. pic.twitter.com/qONJuzWVLR
— Emily Jayne Smith (@EmzJ_Smith) October 5, 2023
She said that the Health Minister's answer to her written question also gave no details about the amount of money spent on staffing for the project, adding that a report of the pilot project was also yet to be produced.
"Perhaps this shows that Ministers aren't as serious about the scheme as they said they were," she noted.
Government and Co-op "working together" on period product issue
Campaigners push for fully sustainable products in Gov period scheme
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.