Government backs new law to cut cost of school uniforms by clamping down on monopoly suppliers The Government has announced it will be supporting a private member’s bill introduced by the Labour MP Mike Amesbury

A proposed law to cut the cost of school uniforms has received the Government’s backing.

Labour MP Mike Amesbury introduced a private member’s bill to Parliament which will require schools in England not to rely on a single supplier for their uniforms, unless the contract has gone out to tender.

The schools minister, Nick Gibb, has announced the Government will be supporting the legislation, which is usually the only way a private member’s bill can be made into law.

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The bill will put existing guidance to schools – including that they should avoid single supplier contracts and keep compulsory branded items to a minimum to save cost – on a statutory basis.

Cross-party support

Mr Amesbury said: “The response to this has been hugely positive already. I’m delighted that it’s received both government, and cross-party support.

“As we take this bill through Parliament I hope that other MPs will come onboard so we can help make a real difference for families who are struggling with the cost of school uniforms.”

Mr Gibb said: “School uniforms should always be affordable and should not leave pupils or their families feeling that they cannot apply to a particular school.

“That is why we will be supporting the progress of this bill through Parliament, in order to make our guidance on the cost considerations for school uniform statutory at the earliest opportunity.”

‘Swap shops’

The details of the legislation are still being worked out, but i understands it will require schools to justify their uniform choices in terms of affordability.

It could also require them to host “swap shops”, in which uniform is recycled from children who have outgrown their clothes to other pupils.

However, it is not yet clear what would happen to schools if they failed to follow the guidance.

A survey by the Children’s Society in 2018 found that families were spending an average of £340 per year on uniform for each child at secondary school, while parents of primary school children spent £255 on average.

‘Pernicious’ exclusion

In September the education minister Lord Agnew suggested single-supplier contracts were a “pernicious way of excluding children from less well-off backgrounds”, and promised to “go after” any schools insisting on a sole supplier.

Branded uniform has been another bugbear of politicians. The Labour MP Emma Hardy, who has campaigned on the issue of uniforms, said last year that she had “seen examples of schools insisting on a tiny logo on the sides of trousers or the sides of skirts, which then makes those trousers three times the cost of a plain pair of trousers from their local supermarket.”

She said that some schools were even “insisting on socks which have the embroidered logo of the school”.