Council calls for cheaper school uniforms

Brighton & Hove City Council is calling on schools in the city to take steps to make their school uniforms more affordable.

Councillor Kate Knight is deputy chair of the council’s children, families and schools committee. She has written to headteachers to ask them to consider limiting the number of more expensive branded items families have to buy.

Councillor Knight said: “Thousands of local families who have faced the lockdown period on reduced or no wages, are really struggling.

“I believe they will be facing even greater hardship this September. Now, more than ever, the cost of a school uniform will be a real problem for them.

“I am calling on our schools to urgently consider relaxing their school uniform policies.

“I would like to see fewer expensive branded items, and more emphasis on clothing that is available on the high street that is easy care and cheaper to buy.

“I think this would be a massive relief to many families across the city, providing immediate and tangible support with their children’s return to school in September.

“We are meeting with secondary headteachers on Wednesday, so we can discuss and share ideas about ways to help out families that are struggling. 

“I am sure it will be a really positive meeting and I’m looking forward to it.

“We are also supporting a bill put forward in Parliament by Mike Amesbury MP calling on the government to put a legal limit on the number of more expensive branded items required for a school uniform.”

Responsibility for decisions about school uniform rests with individual schools, not the council.

For information about Mike Amesbury MP’s bill, please visit: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/uniform-bill-mp-wants-restriction-on-branded-items.