Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to address schools which maintain a single supplier relationship with no competitive tendering for school uniform items.

In November last year, the Department published statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms after supporting the private members bill, the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021. The guidance, which came into effect this September, requires schools to ensure that their uniform is affordable and secures best value for money for parents.

The Department expects governing boards to now be compliant with the statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms. The exceptions to this would be where this would breach a pre-existing agreement or where a competitive tender to set up a new uniform contract is required.

Any concerns about a school’s uniform policy should be raised with the school in the first instance, including via the school’s published complaints procedure where necessary.

If the school’s published complaints process has concluded with an unsatisfactory outcome, a complaint should be raised with the Department: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-school/state-schools.

Once a complaint is raised formally with the Department, having already been through the school’s complaints process, the Department will contact the school and then consider whether its uniform policy meets current education legislation. The Department can also consider whether the school’s complaints procedure meets the requirements for complaints processes.