Community has welcomed the progress of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which is set to lower school uniform costs for over 4 million children across England.
Provisions included in the bill, which is set for its second reading in the House of Lords this week, will place a limit on the number of branded items that schools can require to three. The Department for Education estimates that the cap will save some parents as much as £50 a year on school shopping, giving parents of an estimated 4.2 million schoolchildren more flexibility on where they purchase school uniform.
Helen Osgood, Community’s National Secretary for Education and Early Years, said:
“Our members in the education sector regularly report on how the wellbeing of the pupils they teach and support is being directly impacted by the cost of living, and the acute struggle that many parents face to ensure that their children have up-to-date school uniform is very much a part of this. We welcome the Labour government’s decisive action to address this through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
“The cap on branded school uniform items – coupled with strengthened safeguards for vulnerable children and an expansion of free breakfast clubs – will help reduce the worry that many families face.
“We fully support the Department for Education in in its mission to expand opportunities to all children, and look forward to working closely with the government to deliver its transformational Plan for Change.”
Martin Hodge, Community’s Head of Education Policy, said:
“No parent should have to worry about whether they can afford to provide their child with school uniform, and no child should miss out on valuable classroom time as a result. This Labour government has shown that it is on the side of parents, pupils and educators by legislating to reduce the unfairness and inequality in our education system.”
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