Debate contribution: Holiday Hunger and the High Cost of School Uniforms

Debate contribution by Mr Nick Mathison on 12 November 2024.

MLA

Mr Nick Mathison

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

12 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Holiday Hunger and the High Cost of School Uniforms

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4658695

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I am proposing the Alliance amendment to the motion. I thank the Members who tabled the motion, which gives us the opportunity to highlight the severe burden of holiday hunger and the high cost of school uniforms, particularly PE kits and branded items, on families across Northern Ireland. We tabled our amendment because we feel that the motion is broad and general in scope and lacks clear, specific calls for action. While we support the spirit of it, we want the amendment to add a little more. We will not support the DUP amendment, which appears to ask us to welcome action on holiday hunger, when I have heard no evidence of action having been taken to address that. It calls on us to welcome something that has not taken place, which would be an odd thing for us to endorse. I fully appreciate the funding pressures, as Mr Brooks highlighted, being experienced by the Education Department. Nobody is going to argue with that today, but I am not going to vote for an amendment to welcome something that has not taken place. The fact that the Department is strapped for cash does not make it any more sensible to do that. Neither can we look to a future anti-poverty strategy, which I would love to see progressed, but it is, as yet, unfunded and its content is, as yet, unknown. Again, I cannot accept that.

I will give way, yes.

Absolutely: I agree entirely. It is one of any number of strategies that we have been waiting for in this place for a long time. The continued cycle of collapse of the institutions does nothing to progress any of that. As I said, I am not going to welcome an unfunded, unpublished strategy as a solution to these issues. Our amendment therefore asks for something more specific but not just on the subject of holiday hunger, as we have tried to widen it to include the broader food poverty issues that are being experienced by children in schools. We know, as I have emphasised, as Mr Brooks has emphasised and, I have no doubt, as the Minister will emphasise, the Department is cash-strapped. We still await the conclusion of the review of the eligibility criteria for free school meals and for the school uniform grant, which we have been promised for a very long time. Since I was elected in 2022, I have been asking for that, and I have been repeatedly promised that it is coming, but I have yet to see it. That is not an action with huge associated costs, but it would at least allow us to look at costed policy options to tackle some of the issues affecting children in our schools.

Our amendment also calls on the Minister to set out a plan to widen access to free school meals. Again, that is about setting a direction of travel to start to address the food poverty issues that affect our children and young people. I recognise UNISON's recent campaign that advocated universal free school meals, which is an aspiration that we would all probably be able to sign up to.

I thank the Member for his intervention. If you let me continue, I will address some of those points. I was making the point that we can all support in principle the call to widen access to free school meals, but, of course, the issue of funding makes it more challenging to deliver. I am not suggesting that we should have an overnight flip from our current model to universal provision. Again, we need to look at policy options. We should begin to set a bit of ambition about where we might like to get to, even if we know that we cannot do it overnight, as is the case in many instances.

I am going to run out of time, but I will give way. After that, I will need to make some progress.

I absolutely agree. Again, I hope that the Minister can cover that in his remarks. It is not just for the Education Minister; it is for the Health Minister and other Ministers. If we were to look at a more universal application of free school meals, we would see, as research has shown, that it has educational and health benefits. The Children's Services Co-operation Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 has been mentioned many times in this place as a mechanism that could be used to start taking a more joined-up approach to policymaking. The motion is right to express "grave concern" about the impact of holiday hunger, and I welcome the call for the Minister to provide an update on how he plans to address it. As I referenced in relation to Mr Carroll's comments, this is an area — I do not disagree entirely with everything Mr Brooks said — where the Departments of Health, Communities and Education need to work together, utilise the Children's Services Co-operation Act and tackle the problem. I would like to see that move beyond lip service. Officials tell us that they are collaborating, but what that really means is that they meet. They meet, talk and discuss, but that is not collaboration. Will we see movement towards joint planning, joint commissioning of services and pooling of resources to deliver on tackling issues like holiday hunger? I do not say that that all sits with one Minister; it is about collaborative action. Our amendment also goes further on the subject of school uniforms. I recognise that the Minister has put that out to consultation for legislation. I welcome and commend him for that. The rapid action that was taken is to be welcomed. It is also welcome that the consultation included the option of a cost cap, something that the Alliance Party has argued for. That represents progress, because, according to Parentkind's most recent survey, which has been referenced a lot today, 66% of parents here have registered school uniforms as a financial concern. It is not acceptable that two thirds of parents find the necessity of sending their child to school with the appropriate uniform to be a financial concern. Legislation is sorely needed, but, when it is delivered, it must be comprehensive enough to make a meaningful difference. It must focus on real solutions. It should include an embedded price cap, and it should certainly contain robust statutory guidance that can be enforced to ensure that uniforms are affordable. When we look at the legislation on school uniforms in England, we see that the learning from there is that it is too light-touch, there are far too many grey areas, and parents do not end up with the protections that they need to make cost savings. Alliance welcomes the legislation coming forward, and we look forward to the Minister's update on that, but we will keep a very close eye on it to ensure that what is ultimately delivered is effective. I highlight the all-party group on parental participation in education. Next week, we will launch our report on the cost of accessing education. It is not just about food or uniforms. The report will draw out the many areas, including transport, where parents bear undue costs. Also, the voluntary contributions that many schools require parents to pay can, in some cases, be eye-watering sums of money. It would be good to hear from the Minister about whether there is a wider plan to look at ensuring that we do not place undue cost pressures on parents for accessing any aspect of our education system. I look forward to sharing that report, when it is launched, with the Minister. In summary, there is absolutely nothing that I object to in the motion, but I ask Members to consider supporting our amendment, which calls for a little bit more. It calls for a clear update on the review of the eligibility criteria for free school meals and uniform grants; a clear plan and commitment from the Education Minister to address holiday hunger — I emphasise this — in conjunction with his Executive colleagues; a clear update from the Minister on whether he plans to even consider widening access to free school meals; and support for legislation on uniforms that does not just tighten the guidance or make recommendations but places real, meaningful duties on boards of governors to address costs. It is vital that we send a clear message today that we are committed to Northern Ireland's children and our shared belief that no child should go hungry or face unnecessary financial barriers to accessing any aspect of the education system. We cannot accept a situation where any child's potential is hindered by poverty or financial hardship. I urge Members to accept our amendment on that basis.

1,465 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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