MPs will debate a bill aimed at ensuring schools keep the cost of their uniforms down.

Labour MP Mike Amesbury, who brought forward the bill, says he is “pro-uniform’ but that education must be affordable and inclusive.

Research by the Children’s Society suggests that more than half of primary school parents and two thirds of secondary school parents have to purchase two or more items from a specific shop and that pushes up costs.

However specialist uniform suppliers dispute this and say their items provide good value for clothes worn about 195 days a year.