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

Debate contribution by Mrs Michelle Guy on 13 October 2025.

MLA

Mrs Michelle Guy

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 5175946

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Member for his intervention. I agree with much of what he said. I am not going to speculate on what may or may not have been the reason. I can look at the evidence, however, and, as I outlined, the evidence is that the work was not done. Draft guidelines did not come before us because the preparation and work were not done to deliver something that would have been meaningful. It was not put in front of us. I appreciate that one can speculate that the guidelines will perhaps be a disappointment to us, but we will wait and reserve our judgement until we see them. I entirely agree with the points that the Member made about equality. We heard directly from young people and those with additional needs who should have accommodations made. We heard from young girls who wanted to have the option to wear trousers. For the last debate on this, I chose to wear trousers. Today, I have chosen to wear a skirt. The point is that I had a choice. The Bill shies away from giving girls and women the same choice when it comes to school uniforms. I hope that the clear evidence that we heard at the Education Committee from young people and others will give the Minister the impetus to ensure that his guidelines provide that schools must consider menstruation needs and the impact on access to education and physical activity, because, in 2025 —.

I thank my colleague for that intervention. I agree entirely. We encourage young people to come, and we assure them that their voices will be heard in policymaking and legislation. Completely disregarding their time and their evidence is hugely disappointing, and it absolutely is a worry that they will just give up, because they will assume that we are just paying lip service to their contributions. Those contributions should be heard and taken seriously. I hope that the clear evidence that the Education Committee heard encourages the Minister to take action on that. Of course, we heard about the urgent need to address costs and their drivers, most notably branded items, excessive PE kits and single-supplier agreements. I am glad that there is some provision in the Bill to tackle the latter. Minister, if the guidelines are good and adequately address the issues that I have raised, I will say that they are good. I want uniforms to be more affordable. I want uniform prices to be fair and to promote equality. What is good about the legislation in some ways is the fact that families will either feel its impact, or they will not. Those who have to pay excessive prices will be able to tell us directly whether prices have come down. Those girls who are being told that they cannot wear trousers will either be able to do so after the legislation is enacted, or they will not. Ultimately, it does not matter what I say here. The judge will be families in Northern Ireland. I genuinely hope that the Bill does not let them down.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

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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.

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