Debate contribution: School Uniforms (Guidelines and Allowances) Bill: Consideration Stage
Debate contribution by Mr Peter Martin on .
- MLA
- Mr Peter Martin
- Party at the time
- Democratic 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 5099865
Read the official Assembly record
Text
That is great. Sorry, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. If it is possible, I will make one more remark and then move on to amendment Nos 5, 6 and 7, because Members who spoke previously brought up the scrutiny phase. I felt that there was an impetus to get the Bill through. Parents who are watching the debate will be keen to see the legislation in place. It should not be bad legislation but good legislation that makes a difference. The Member who spoke previously mentioned that. I will outline our party's position on the group 2 amendments. Amendment No 2, taken in conjunction with amendment No 3, is likely to widen the number of consultees. We do not plan to oppose those amendments. I will talk generally and then specifically about amendment Nos 5, 6 and 7. We have some general concerns about their drafting. During the debate on the group 1 amendments, the Minister mentioned advice from the OLC, and, during his speech, the SDLP Member for West Tyrone talked about how the success of the Bill will be judged by pounds and pennies saved, not by technical drafting. I say, however, looking at amendment Nos 5, 6 and 7, that technical drafting is important, as it sets out the policymakers' legal intent. We have to be mindful of that. On amendment No 5, we consider the phrases "play-based curricula" and "outdoor learning" not to have been defined in primary legislation. We recognise the intent of the amendment but feel that, on balance, that intent is already covered in clause 2 and will be, I am sure, further clarified in the guidelines. We will therefore oppose amendment No 5. It is our understanding that amendment No 6 could have some unintended consequences. The Member who spoke previously talked about the impact that having a monopoly or one supplier can have, but we also heard evidence in Committee that there are very small schools, some post-primary but mostly primary, in rural Northern Ireland — perhaps in south Down, south Armagh and west Tyrone — that are not near large towns and therefore may have arrangements with a local supplier. That arrangement may be particularly valuable to parents, because buying from that supplier, although it may be the only supplier of that primary school's uniform, may be incredibly cost-effective. A really positive arrangement may be in place. I realise that that is not the case with every school in Northern Ireland, as did the Committee during Committee Stage, but there are outliers. I am sure that nobody here would want to lose small, independent retailers from our towns. On that basis and because of its drafting, we will oppose amendment No 6. We think that clause 2 is probably the wrong place for amendment No 7 and that it should be to clause 6. That is a technical flaw. As with amendment No 6, amendment No 7 would add the term "provider", and, given that "retailer" is already mentioned, we think that that is unnecessary and erroneous. Therefore, we will oppose amendment No 7. We do not view amendment No 13 as being particularly problematic and will not force a Division on it. Principal Deputy Speaker, thank you for your time and your indulgence. I will finish my remarks on the group 2 amendments by saying again that the Bill will make a difference for parents who buy school uniforms. I am one of those parents, as are many people in the room. The Bill will make a really positive impact as we look forward to the new school year, and I commend it to the House.
606 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.94).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.94 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.69 |
| Education structures, integration and community division | 0.27 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:08 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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