Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Written evidence submitted on behalf of Citizens Advice Halton (CWSB175)

Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: Call for Evidence

Summary

1. This evidence relates only to Clause 23 - School uniforms: limits on branded items

· On average school uniform costs £371 per child

· The majority of parents had been forced to cut back on spending on essential items such as food and energy to cover uniform costs.

· 18% of household had taken on further borrowing to cover the cost of uniforms

· Families with school age children are overrepresented in key advice areas that look at financial pressures and affordability including debt, housing and benefit advice.

2. We broadly support the need for a restriction on the number of branded uniform items. However, we invite the committee to review whether restrictions go far enough and would encourage them to recommend;

· Reducing the limit to a single branded item (two if it includes a tie)

· Prohibition on additional "optional" branded uniform items.

Introduction

3. This response is submitted by Chris Sutton on behalf of Citizens Advice Halton. The contents of this submission are based on the experiences of clients who have contacted our service since 2022.

4. This submission relates to clause 23 - School uniforms: limits on branded items only.

Our Research

5. Citizens Advice Halton have explored the issue of school uniform costs on 2 occasions since the previous legislation was passed on this issue. The most recent report is published at; https://haltoncab.org.uk/research-and-campaigns/. This looked at the experiences of 65 families who had reached out for support meeting the cost of school uniforms.

6. Moreover, the organisation provides financial capability and debt advice to approximately 2000 clients per annum. Obtaining a detailed breakdown of their income and expenditure. Through a review of this data, we can monitor how the costs of school uniform have changed over time.

Finding s

7. In 2024/25 we found the average cost of school uniform was £371 per child, this was a reduction of £16 compared to 2023/24. The change was attributed to one of the largest education providers in the borough shifting to a fully unbranded uniform.

8. Parents of children identifying as female experienced a financial penalty compared to their male peers, worth £64.50 per child.

9. 96% of schools operating in Halton offered optional branded uniform items adding up to £116.75 per child to the cost of uniform.

10. Most alarmingly was the impact this had on the families we supported.

11. In 2022, 64% of parents with Primary School children and 74% with Secondary School children had cut back on essential items such as food to afford uniforms for their children.

12. In 2023;

· 18% of families had to borrow money to meet the cost of school uniforms.

· 12% of families told us they had or would have to miss some, or all of their rent payments.

· 27% of families told us they would not be able to afford the cost of energy.

13. The majority of local primary schools allow students to wear unbranded alternatives to their uniform. However, anecdotal evidence suggests peer pressure forced parents to secure branded items despite this.

· 33% of clients told us that they feared their child would not fit in or would be bullied if they did not wear the full branded uniform.

14. Our clients reported similar concerns regarding optional branded uniform items. However, as these were often sold at a premium price point, the impact on parents was more significant. Despite the financial difficulties discussed above, a high proportion of our clients told us that they would purchase optional items due to the stigma associated with not having these.

15. Our review of services identified concerns that previous legislation and guidance issued in 2021 has been largely circumvented and that the choice of language (e.g. "should") had been used to avoid meeting the spirit of legislation. Despite guidance that optional items should be kept to a minimum we found that on average schools offered 3 pieces of optional uniform, with one provider offering 8 different options, including 3 different types of hats.

16. Our research of Halton schools in 2023 found that none of the published school uniform policies locally included a statement explaining the need for optional items or how affordability had been assessed.

Other Factors

17. We noted that the continuing shift from Local Authority governed provision to academy trusts has further exacerbated problems with school uniforms.

18. These changes routinely lead to a change in branding, school colours and often necessitated the purchase of a full new uniform.

Mitigation

19. Local uniform exchange schemes are available throughout Halton, however the feedback received from clients suggests that these are largely ineffective as a means of eliminating financial hardship.

20. The feedback our clients have provided suggests these were often cancelled at short notice, scheduled poorly, often during working hours only and that they rarely had stock of more expensive items (e.g. school blazers and branded skirts).

21. Anecdotally, we also heard that the changing in branding due to schools shifting to academy trusts meant that it often took 2-3 years before an adequate stock of 2nd hand uniforms became available.

22. Other initiatives such as education grants and bursaries are often difficult to access and are poorly promoted. This means that many of the families we spoke to are unaware of this potential support.

23. Within Halton this gap has been covered by the generosity of the third sector providing financial grants, however this model is unsustainable in the current financial climate.

Our Client’s Stories (names have been changed to preserve anonymity)

24. Katie is a single parent and lives with her 4 children. She works part time, and the family also receive Universal Credit, but this is reduced due to the 2-child limit and a historic tax credit overpayment. Katie told us that every month the family struggle to get by and she has run up significant priority debts due to increases in the cost of living. In August 2023 Katie told us that she had spent £600 buying uniform for her children, she’d cut down on food and had no money to top up the energy meter. Katie has already exhausted support from the food bank and didn’t know where to turn next.

25. Julia’s story In May 2023 Julia separated from her former partner due to domestic abuse. She now lives independently with her young son. Julia was in the UK on a spouse visa and does not have recourse to public funds. Julia has recently completed her teacher training and is working towards her QTS certificate. She was unable to secure a full-time job when she left her course and instead started doing agency work. Unfortunately, the nature of agency work is that you don't get paid in the school holidays, so Julia was left without any income. Without her earnings from teaching Julia hasn’t got any money to purchase a school uniform for her son.

Additional Concerns

26. Citizens Advice Halton provide advice on over 8000 discrete issues every year. From this information we can build a picture of how specific groups are affected.

27. Households with dependant children represent on 17.5% of the population of Halton (https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/E06000006/) however, are over represented in all of the issues advised on by Citizens Advice Halton (34%).

28. In key areas for assessing financial hardship the figures are more stark;

· families with school age children make up 36% of debt advice cases;

· 40% of applications for emergency charitable support (e.g. food banks).

· 33% of requests for housing advice (including serious disrepair, eviction and homelessness)

· 35% of all requests for help to maximise benefits.

29. The link between child poverty and reduced opportunity is already well documented and will not be recited here. However, we stress that it is imperative that all reasonable steps are taken to mitigate the risk of additional harm to families with children.

Conclusion

30. Steps to enshrine in law a restricted number of branded garments within a school uniform is to be commended.

31. The cost of school uniforms leaves families struggling financially during the summer months, at a time where families are experiencing competing pressures due to school holidays (childcare, increased food costs, higher energy costs etc).

32. Setting a strict limit on the number of branded garments contained within a school uniform shows a real commitment to minimising inequality of opportunity for many of the families we support, however the committee would be encouraged to go further, minimising the use of branded items to a single item at both primary and secondary levels.

33. We would also encourage a prohibition on optional branded items which we found to create undue pressure to struggling families.

January 2025