Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Written evidence submitted by the New Forest Uniform Campaign (CWSB50)

 

Introduction

 

I would like to submit evidence specifically about clause 23 regarding the statutory limits on the number of uniform that schools can require.

This evidence is submitted by Tom Wardle, on behalf of the New Forest Uniform Campaign, of which I am the coordinator. This campaign originated from my work as the New Forest Partnership Campaigns Manager, working for and with anti-poverty organisations in the New Forest.

Executive summary:

· Just the branded items at the most expensive school can cost up to £217.50.

· 68% of surveyed parents said that they were making financial cutbacks to be able to afford school uniform.

· 51% of respondents said that they were going into debt or borrowing money to meet the costs of school uniform.

· Schools can easily ignore statutory guidance from 2021 about the cost of school uniform. A hard limit should solve this problem.

· We are supportive of measures to limit the amount of branded items that schools can require as part of their uniform.

· The high cost of school uniform in our district takes money out of parents’ pockets, which could be spent on children’s wellbeing.

New Forest Uniform Campaign evidence

 

Origin of campaign

1. The New Forest Uniform Campaign originated out of ‘Cost of Living Community Conversations’ held across the New Forest. These workshops identified the cost of school uniforms as a major financial obstacle and driver of hardship in the district.

2. A group of parents in one town came together and wrote to the head teachers of schools in this catchment area. We asked schools to review their uniform policy in line with the statutory guidance. We only received one response.

Survey findings:

3. The next step of our campaign was to carry out a large-scale survey of parents and carers in the New Forest district between June and December 2024. This gathered over 225 responses. The survey results demonstrated that:

a. A third (34%) of parents disagreed with the statement that ‘Uniform at this School is affordable’, with a further 36% strongly disagreeing.

b. Over two thirds of parents (68%) said that they were making cutbacks on food, bills and family days out to afford uniform.

c. Just over half (51%) of respondents said that they were going into debt or borrowing money to be able to pay for school uniform.

Existing statutory guidance

4. Because the existing statutory guidance published in 2021 uses the word ‘should’, rather than ‘must’, schools have easily been able to sidestep and ignore the statutory guidance. There is no compulsion to follow it.

5. We contacted our County Council concerning schools with particularly expensive uniforms. Council officers reminded schools of the statutory guidance but the schools in question responded that they were going to great lengths to minimise costs, despite having a high number of branded items. The County Council was not able to compel the schools to undertake any further action.

Junior schools

6. The vast majority of infant and primary schools do not have expensive uniforms and would be compliant with the proposed legislation. There are even some schools that do not have requirements for any branded items whatsoever so long as the items are the correct colours. The survey found much greater levels of satisfaction at junior schools, compared to secondary schools.

7. The more expensive junior schools tended to have hard-to-obtain colours in the uniform or branded items.

Secondary schools

8. Secondary schools, by contrast, tend to be much more expensive and have many more branded items in the uniform.

9. We calculated the overall price if buying just the branded items at a school. [1] Just to buy branded items, the most expensive school uniform is £217.50, with another school’s also totalling over £200, and another two schools costing over £150.

10. In particular, multiple secondary schools have skirts or kilts that must be bought from a particular store, and cannot be bought generically.

11. PE kit can also be a significant expense and some secondary schools ask for branded socks and shorts, not accepting unbranded items with the correct colours.

12. A small number of schools have house colours incorporated into uniform items, which means that they cannot be passed down easily.

13. Another problem is that some schools have changed their uniform multiple times in a short period of time. Changing logos at some schools has rendered the uniform obsolete and it cannot be passed down between generations.

14. The most cost-effective secondary school option in my experience seems to be a blazer and tie uniform, owing to the hard-wearing nature of a blazer.

All schools

15. Generally speaking, nearly all schools have a second-hand uniform facility or exchange. There are also some schemes in the community. Some schools have (indirectly) communicated that they believe no action is required, owing to the school uniform exchange. Second-hand uniform can be stigmatising. My position has been that we should tackle the cause of the problem and not to treat its symptoms, by making sure that uniform is genuinely affordable for everyone.

16. At many schools, there are options that are branded as optional. However, parents have reported feeling peer pressure to ensure that their children are not standing out.

17. Occasionally, there is a lack of clarity about which items of uniform must be branded and whether generic items are acceptable. In these scenarios, the uniform policy may not be not published online.

Considerations for implementation of law:

18. In terms of implementation, I would recommend that schools are given a timeline to work with, and that this factors in how items are phased out. Also, parents should be consulted about the uniform that they want to see.

19. Some schools may seek to make some branded items ‘optional’. Consideration should be given to whether this may increase peer pressure.

Anonymised testimonies from parents

 

20. These testimonies were provided for press releases and writing to schools.

Parent 1 , Senior school A :

21. "I have to send my children into school in uniform that they’ve clearly outgrown because it’s such a struggle to be able to afford all of it. If Senior School A made it so that we could buy more plain items from cheaper shops, that would really save me a small fortune. Instead, the children are having to miss out on clubs, activities and family days out."

22. "My children have even been punished in the past, and put in Reset, for wearing the wrong uniform. That’s not fair on the children."

Parent 2, Senior School B:

23. "Virtually every item has to be bought from the school shop, even the trousers and PE socks, which makes things needlessly expensive. The only thing you can get from a supermarket are white shirts and PE shorts. There’s never been any consultation with parents on any of this."

24. "They even changed the badge on the blazer recently, so you’re just going to stand out if you can only afford the older blazer. The whole idea of uniform was to make everyone look the same but now the opposite is true."'

Local school clothes exchange:

25. "We have had many parents struggling to afford to afford correct uniform over the years, with 'logos' changing it just makes it harder. Parents feel under pressure to make sure their child doesn't stand out even though the schools have said they can continue with old logos."

Conclusion:

 

26. In summary, we are supportive of the proposed legislation, which aligns with the aims of the New Forest Uniform Campaign to make school uniform more affordable.

27. The high cost of school uniform in our district takes money out of parents’ pockets, which could be spent on children’s wellbeing. Provision of second-hand uniform is inadequate and the problem should be tackled at its source by making more generic items available.

28. Setting a hard limit on the number of branded items seems a constructive step, which would minimise uncertainty.

Tom Wardle, Coordinator of the New Forest Uniform Campaign

January 2025