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Written question asked by Lisa Forbes (Labour) on Thursday, 4 July 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 July 2019. It was answered by Nick Gibb (Conservative) on Friday, 12 July 2019 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Schools: Uniforms

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the availability of school uniform grants in each local authority in England.

Answer

The information requested is not held centrally as the Department does not collect figures on the number of local authorities that offer uniform grants. In England, some local authorities provide discretionary grants to help with buying school uniforms. Local authorities that offer these grants set their own criteria for eligibility.

Schools may also offer individual clothing schemes, such as offering second-hand uniform at reduced prices. This would be a decision for the school to make.

The Department’s non-statutory guidance on school uniform places extra emphasis on the need for schools to give highest priority to cost considerations. No school uniform should be so expensive as to leave pupils or their families feeling unable to apply to, or attend, a school of their choice, due to the cost of the uniform.

The Department’s guidance on school uniform is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
273501
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Grants Schools Uniforms
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk