Somerset MP calls for more affordable school uniforms
Anna Sabine MP says uniforms should be made more accessible
The MP for Frome and East Somerset is calling on the government to make school uniforms more affordable for parents.
Anna Sabine spoke at the second reading of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, where she welcomed government plans to limit the number of branded items students are required to have.
These uniform items can include ties, blazers and jumpers branded with the school’s logo.
“As a parent myself and as a single parent I’ve always been struck by the cost of school uniform and we all know that branded items tend to be a lot more because often there’s only one supplier,” Ms Sabine told Greatest Hits Radio.
Though she praised the measure, the Somerset MP urged the government to take it a step further and limit the number of branded items to just one.
“I compared my daughter’s school, a state school, to our local supermarket. All the branded items alone would be over £300, and, in a supermarket, it would be £100.
“We really should be looking at the costs we’re making parents pay.
“I appreciate a uniform is important and a good social leveller.
“I’m not anti-uniform. I just think there’s a way we can do it that’s a lot more accessible for most families.”