Debate contribution: School Uniforms (Guidelines and Allowances) Bill: Consideration Stage

Debate contribution by Mrs Cathy Mason on 15 September 2025.

MLA

Mrs Cathy Mason

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

15 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

School Uniforms (Guidelines and Allowances) Bill: Consideration Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5099231

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The amendments are about ensuring that whatever guidance, when we finally get to see it, comes out of the Bill is not only written but enforced and monitored. I will speak briefly in support of amendment Nos 1, 4, 8, 9, 11 and 12. I will not support the Minister's amendment No 10.

Amendment No 1 would ensure that the Department reviews the guidelines:

"at least once every three years".

Uniform costs continue to spiral. In recent years, inflation, paired with the actions of some schools and suppliers, has increased costs for families. Regular inspection of the cost of uniforms would give families the assurance that such interventions are not temporary. Amendment No 4 would require guidelines to be brought before the Assembly, thus taking the decisions out of the hands of the Minister and his colleagues and putting them in those of the Assembly, thereby ensuring full transparency for families. Amendment No 8 would make it a requirement for the Department to publish a report:

"at least once every three years",

to review the cost of school uniforms and to consider the introduction of a price cap. A clear explanation from the Minister when no cap is applied would also be required. That is the transparency that families need and the test that is required. Amendment No 9 would give the Department the ability to intervene if schools breach uniform guidelines or if pupils are being unfairly punished for not following uniform rules. As my party colleague Pat Sheehan stated, amendment No 11 would remove any ambiguity, while amendment No 12 would require directions to schools to be published. Parents need to be informed when a school is being directed to change its approach. We will not support the Minister's amendment No 10, as it seeks to undermine any limited protections that the Bill may offer to children and young people. As my party colleague explained, adding the word "undue" risks allowing pupils still to be punished for uniform breaches. That means that a girl who is on her period cannot wear trousers; that a child who is standing outside in the freezing cold cannot wear their coat; and that a child who has sensory needs must go on feeling uncomfortable and distressed. Further amendments could have addressed such situations, but their selection was at the Speaker's discretion. Although I support most of the amendments in group 1, I note a missed opportunity. I drafted a private Member's Bill that would have introduced stronger proposals to ensure that we drive down the cost of school uniforms. We are in this position today because the Minister's Bill takes precedence over private Members' Bills. Instead, my Sinn Féin colleagues and I therefore worked alongside other parties on the Committee to table amendments on children's rights; on giving girls the option to wear trousers, although it is unbelievable that we are even discussing that in this day and age; on making reasonable accommodation for pupils with additional needs; and on introducing uniform reuse schemes. All were left out of today's debate. Perhaps, as Pat Sheehan said, we will, in due course, be offered an explanation as to why that happened. We are now in the peculiar position of discussing a Bill on uniforms when neither the DUP Education Minister nor his Department has produced the draft guidelines that will accompany it. That is unacceptable. If we are to be serious about ensuring that school uniform policy is fit for purpose, the Minister should take the opportunity today to clarify when we can expect the guidance to be produced. We wanted a Bill that would truly make uniforms affordable for everyone, make them inclusive and promote equality. Unfortunately, I now need to be convinced that that is what we have in front of us in what remains in the Bill after it has been stripped of genuine interventions.

645 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:07 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification