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

Debate contribution by Mr Nick Mathison on 13 October 2025.

MLA

Mr Nick Mathison

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

13 October 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

School Uniforms (Guidelines and Allowances) Bill: Final Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5175487

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I may be able to get through my contribution before 2.00 pm regardless. I thank the Minister for his intervention. Yes, I was concerned about the timescales but simply because, as I highlight now, if the guidelines arrive in the next two or three weeks — we are being told that November is the key date for their publication — it seems unrealistic to expect schools to implement a significant policy change in that time. My point when we looked at the timescales was always about how on earth we could ask schools to turn it around in that time frame. It therefore does not feel deliverable to me. I sincerely hope that it is, however, because we need to see the costs dealt with.

There was an insistence that that quick turnaround was needed. Undoubtedly, it impacted on the timescale that we had in which to scrutinise the legislation. I therefore hope that the rush to deliver the legislation does result in a positive impact and not in a scramble, in which schools are put under pressure to come up with new policies overnight just to meet the imposed timescale. We all want costs to be dealt with, but they need to be dealt with effectively and in a way that will result in the right impact on parents. Parents desperately need to see costs come down. I hope, come September 2026, that that is what we will see, but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Assurances from the Minister that the Bill delivers will be meaningless if parents do not see a change in the money that they need to spend in order to send their child to school. Briefly, I put on record some concerns that local suppliers have raised with me about the slightly complex position in which they find themselves. They are already facing increasing pressures from their suppliers to commit to orders for next year so that they can secure the best possible prices. Again, the rush that there has been to deliver the guidelines within a timescale of what I can only assume is weeks is potentially putting those businesses under pressure, and their relationships with schools as a result of the need to deliver on policies could be put under threat. Again, I would like clarity from the Minister on that. I will conclude by saying that Alliance will support the Bill at Final Stage today, as we will not countenance blocking any intervention to bring down costs. It is now over to the Minister, however. The Committee worked harder, as the Minister urged us to do. We listened to the evidence. The processes have brought us to this stage.

I will be very, very brief, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Minister, this is your Bill, and it is you who will be held to account for delivery. I hope that you make the most of this opportunity. The guidelines must be robust and effective, and, for parents, they cannot come soon enough.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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