Schools minister angry over uniform issue

The Schools Minister in the UK has expressed concern over parents that are being forced to pay out extortionate prices for school uniforms supplied by certain outfitters, and has said that schools should be taken to court over the issue.

In the current climate most parents are looking to cut back on spending as much as possible, but some schools are making them shell out a fortune to get uniforms from exclusive outfitters to fit in with their rules and regulations.

In some cases schools are taking a cut from outfitters for the right to sell their uniforms, and Iain Wright, the Schools Minister, described these as sweetheart deals.

He added that this could amount to an illegal cartel, and councils have already said around 20 percent of parents are being ‘held to ransom’ through these processes. It is claimed that because of these arrangements parents are paying £45 million a year more for uniforms than they should be.

Mr Wight said that with supermarkets now offering school uniforms at rock bottom prices parents needed to be able to buy generic uniforms so that they wouldn’t have to worry about cost.

Some supermarkets are supplying uniforms for under a fiver, but a fifth of schools are insisting that parents buy the school uniforms for their kids from designated suppliers, which is likely to cost them a fortune.

One official asked Mr Wright if court action was likely to be taken, and he said: ‘I hope we do. A sole supplier could contravene the Competition Act. That is why I am very keen for the OFT to look into this. I am keen to take a firm line on this because we need to be as fair as possible, to show some common sense and be on the side of parents. For schools to say you must have this exclusive blazer which might cost upwards of £70, £80 or even £100 is really not on and we should be discouraging that as much as possible.’