Councils cut school uniform grant by 70 per cent

Analysis shows that financial aid for uniforms has fallen by more than 70 per cent across England since 2010, with 80 per cent of cash-strapped local councils now offering no assistance.

While the Department for Education still advertises the grant, it is left to struggling councils to find the resources to pay it out. Freedom of Information Act findings reveal that the ‘school uniform grant’, introduced in 1980, has been dramatically scaled back in England over the past decade.

Only 27 out of 149 councils surveyed provide the grant at all. A third of those only do so in cases such as fires, floods or ‘extreme poverty’. Only three councils offer a grant to low-income children in all school years and in all situations.

Even among local authorities that do still offer the grants, the data revealed drastic declines in the number issued and amounts provided. For example, Lincolnshire county council issued only three grants last year, for a total of £153.68.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Education, commented: “Not only has the government failed to tackle the spiralling price of school uniforms, but its cuts have taken away the vital support that helps struggling parents to cover the cost.

“We have repeatedly pressed Ministers to keep their promise to stop companies profiteering at parents’ expense, yet four years on there has been no action. This research should be a final wake up call. A Labour government will stop the scandal of children being priced out of school, by capping the cost of uniforms and ending the cuts that have left disadvantaged families without the support they need.”