Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial assistance (a) her Department and (b) schools provide to families on low incomes to help support them with the cost of school (i) uniforms and (ii) sports kits.

Rather than subsiding expensive uniform policies with financial assistance, the Department published statutory guidance on the cost of school uniform to ensure uniform is affordable for all families. The guidance came into force in September 2022 and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms/cost-of-school-uniforms.

Schools must have regard to this guidance when designing and implementing their uniform policy and PE and Sport kit. The guidance requires schools to ensure that their uniform is affordable and secures best value for money for parents.

There is no specific funding for schools to support low income families with the cost of uniform, but schools may offer additional support in cases of financial hardship where they choose to do so.

The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living which is why it is providing £94 billion to support households with high costs across the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This includes the Energy Price Guarantee, which is capping typical household bills at £2,500 until the end of June, as well as additional cost of living payments of up to £900 for eligible households on means tested benefits and funding to help with the cost of household essentials.

In addition, the Government has provided over £2.6 billion of pupil premium funding in the 2022/23 financial year to support pupils from lower income families. Rates will increase by 5% for 2023/24, taking total pupil premium funding to £2.9 billion.