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

Debate contribution by Mr Jon Burrows on 15 September 2025.

MLA: Mr Jon Burrows
Party at the time: Ulster Unionist Party
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 5099686

Text

I am happy to support that. I restate that I and my party will support what is right and oppose what is wrong, and it is not because it is a unionist Minister. There is a certain irony, in that the direction of travel for many people in the Chamber is to tighten up some things around school uniform and tie the schools' hands, but the same people are adamantly opposed to requiring schools to protect inspection. That seems to me to be a completely irreconcilable position. On amendment No 12, I have read the Minister's letter, and we are not convinced entirely about the name and shame. We remain non-committal about it, because there is a deterrent value to being named and shamed. I want to hear a bit more about the rationale for not going down that line, as is being done in other areas of government policy, particularly around social security benefits. We are still undecided about what is the appropriate balance there. There should be clarity about the number of schools and why they are not complying with things. Naming them goes to a principle. I heard many times in the Education Committee about not naming schools.
It is a red line. If we cross it, we must be careful. We are not ruling out doing so, however. Naming and shaming would have a deterrent value. I want to hear a little more about why it would not be appropriate. By the way, I do not particularly like the phrase "naming and shaming". Without it, we would have a court system sitting in closed session to which nobody would turn up and on which the media could not report. We therefore want to tease out the issue a little more.
That is a fair point. This is a seminal moment, however. If we are to go down the route of naming and shaming schools, which is something that I am not sure has been done before, it is a big line to cross. When lines are crossed, there are unintended consequences. The responsible thing to do is therefore not to say, "Yes, that sounds good. Stiffen this up, but name and shame" or, "No, we're going to protect our schools". There is a perception — it is real — that we tend to protect the reputation of schools that have the most or that are in better-off areas rather than worrying about schools in socially disadvantaged areas. We are alive to both sides of the argument and remain to be convinced. That is a healthy position to be in. We see a divergence between naming and shaming here and doing so for the likes of benefit fraud and other things in the criminal justice system. Naming and shaming can have a deterrent value. It is transparent and is about accountability. We want a little more convincing. I would like to hear a bit more from the Minister about why, he believes, the naming of schools would be a negative step and what consequences it might lead to if we went down that line. We should be enthused. There is an opportunity here to get to an end point at which schools put affordability at the centre of everything that they do. That would be in the best interests of children, parents and schools. I was not on the Education Committee when it was discussing the Bill, so there is a time for me to read in in order to understand the nuances of people's positions. We want to make sure that we get the balance right and that schools do not lose the ability to make sensible decisions, because that could have a real impact. If that simple thing could not be enforced, it could quickly create a chaotic situation that would be difficult for parents and teachers to manage. There is a balance to be struck in all of this. We want to support the legislation, but we are yet to be convinced about naming and shaming. There is an opportunity to make school uniforms more affordable and particularly to make sure that no pupil is ever, in any circumstance, excluded from sport or disciplined at school because their mum, dad or carer cannot afford something. That is a clear red line and should be the legislation's purpose. That is the key protection that the legislation must achieve, and it is the thrust that we will look for in the Bill. We will support some things while looking for more convincing on others, and we will scrutinise as we go along.

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

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