Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Bill — House of Lords, 2021-04-16
Topic: Education
Rosalind Altmann (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Bull. I thank my noble friend the Minister for issuing the guidance for us to look over before this debate This is a rather narrow and—in almost all cases—uncontroversial issue. It needs to be dealt with quickly, as the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, said; the sooner we can get this moving, the better. The sooner the guidance is issued, the better the position parents will be in to ensure that their children can comply with any requirements from this narrow Bill I sympathise in principle with the aims of my noble friend Lord Blencathra’s amendment. Having sat so often in recent months through legislation and statutory instruments that have gone through this House with so little scrutiny—and measures that have been introduced with no scrutiny—in principle I think it is important that the role of Parliament in scrutinising legislation be reasserted. We should make sure in coming years that the experience of the past months is not regularly repeated, but I cannot help but agree, I am afraid, with the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, that this Bill is not the right place to impose such a principle at this time It is urgent that we make sure that we do everything possible to get the Bill through before the end of this Session. The Government have issued a delegated powers memorandum, and I think my noble friend the Minister has been doing her utmost to make sure that we are moving this forward. Even if we were to accept this amendment and the negative procedure were applied, it is hardly likely that on its passage through Parliament—whether in debate or in the scrutiny committee—any meaningful change would be achieved I am delighted to see that the guidance emphasises the importance of keeping costs down for parents and keeping branded items to a minimum, which will also assist with costs. I have a few questions for my noble friend. The guidance mentions that schools should take a "mindful and considerate approach" to resolving problems where children are unable to comply with uniform requirements due to financial hardship rather than wilful non-compliance. Could my noble friend give some indication of what would constitute such a mindful and considerate approach I echo the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, on the dangers of excluding children or disciplining them with procedures when it will be very difficult for schools in many cases to differentiate between wilful non-compliance on behalf of the schoolchildren and non-compliance due to unaffordability for parents. Children who keep falling over or who have grown quickly and need new uniforms, rather than having just one set for the year, can often be a problem for parents Finally, in terms of a planned timetable, I encourage my noble friend to introduce this as speedily as possible, hopefully in time for the coming school year this September, and at least a clear implementation timing plan so that parents and schools can plan ahead and get the correct amounts of clothing for their children during the summer holidays and suppliers can bring in stock in preparation.