Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of categorising all school uniform as zero rated for VAT: and if he will make a statement.

Estimates of the number of children with the measurements requested are not available.

The UK is one of only two countries within the OECD to maintain a zero rate for children’s clothing, which costs £2 billion per year. Expanding this to include all school uniforms would come at a cost to the Exchequer, and would require reductions in spending or tax rises elsewhere.

The Government has no plans to review the VAT treatment of children’s clothing.