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

Debate contribution by Ms Cara Hunter on 13 October 2025.

MLA

Ms Cara Hunter

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour 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 5175856

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am not changing my name just yet. I am still a Hunter, which is very good. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the School Uniforms Bill. I have to be honest: I am disappointed that the Bill, in its current form, does not engage with issues specific to women and girls. Today, I am wearing a suit. I am wearing dark trousers, and I feel comfortable and confident: that is not a luxury; it is a right. I am sad that that right has not been extended in this case to women and girls of school age across the North. I am disappointed and disheartened that the Bill did not take the necessary steps that many members across the Committee wanted to see. That said, the SDLP shares the Committee's sentiment that, ultimately, we want the Bill to lift the burden of the cost of school uniforms in order to help parents and families across the North. However, our support comes with real frustration, because what is before us today is a far slimmer, safer version of what it could have been. The Bill was introduced because we acknowledge that the average cost of preparing a child for school is close to £1,000. Pivotal, the public policy think tank, found that one in 10 schoolchildren in the North has missed school because they do not have the right kit. That is simply unacceptable. The SDLP will support the legislation today, as the principle is to make school uniforms more affordable and measure fairness into what, frankly, has been an unchecked system for far too long. However, I cannot ignore the fact that the Bill has become watered-down through its passage to the Final Stage. At the earlier stages, Members across the House, including those of us who sit on the Education Committee, listened to hours and hours of debate and put forward constructive amendments that would have made the legislation stronger, more inclusive and more accountable. We engaged on a cross-party basis and had a lot of conversations about what we could do to make the Bill the best that it could be. Sadly, many of our amendments were withdrawn, ruled out or replaced. I particularly note the absence of any commitment to gender-neutral uniform options, which is a real missed opportunity. It is the Committee's duty to listen to the stakeholders that it engaged with and to put forward the needs and wants of our young people. We did a good job of that, and I feel frustrated, as do many members of the Committee. We wonder about the point of the Committee's level of engagement and of listening directly to young people. As the Committee Chair said earlier, what really resonated with us was that this was about comfort and, more importantly, period dignity. I reiterate that it is grossly unfair that, in the 21st century, young women and girls across the North cannot be afforded the same choice in the right to wear trousers. If I am being honest, I find that frankly absurd. Schools should be places of comfort and inclusion, not conformity for conformity's sake.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:28 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