Thursday 22nd March, 2007
ASDA WELCOMES NEW DfES GUIDANCE ON SCHOOL UNIFORM POLICIES
Schools told to limit the cost of uniforms and scrap expensive sole suppliers
ASDA has welcomed new guidance for schools from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) published this week, which clearly tells them to limit the cost of uniforms and make sure they are widely available so as not to be a barrier for low income families.
Last year, the supermarket encouraged parents across the country to ‘shop’ their local school if they were being told where they must buy their school uniform from, having received complaints from parents that they were being bullied into buying expensive uniforms from schools’ ‘preferred outfitters’.
Petitions were put in every ASDA store and were then handed to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) as part of their review of the UK school uniform market.
The OFT has now written to all schools warning that expensive, exclusive agreements with uniform suppliers may be subject to enforcement action.
Angela Spindler, George Global’s managing director, said: “Customers have always told us it’s unfair if they are being forced to pay over the odds for uniforms just because of the school their kids go to, when they can buy a whole uniform from George for less than a tenner.
“We’ve been campaigning to put a stop to this for some time and are delighted that parents will now be able to save millions of pounds every year by choosing whether they buy school uniforms at a specialist outfitter or at the supermarket when they’re doing their weekly shop.”
Last year’s OFT review found that 84 per cent of schools that require students to have a uniform impose restrictions on the choice of supplier.
Moreover, designated retailers or schools were found to be on average 150 per cent more expensive than supermarkets.
By comparing prices at exclusive outlets with those at other retailers, the OFT estimated that parents of primary and secondary schoolchildren are spending £45 million a year more than they need to on school uniforms.
ASDA sells more school uniforms each year than any other retailer. Last year alone, customers bought more than three million pairs of school trousers, two million shirts and half a million school skirts.
Prices in stores currently start at just £2 for a two-pack of shirts, £3 for a pair of trousers or £2.50 for a skirt and £1.75 for a sweatshirt. School blazers are available for £10 – less than half the price of many specialist school suppliers.
Notes for Editors
DfES Guidance to Schools on School Uniform Related Policies
This consultation document (launched on Tuesday 20 March 2007) includes draft guidance on school uniform, dress codes and other rules on appearance. The guidance provides advice to schools and governing bodies on how to develop fair and reasonable uniform policies.
Jim Knight, Minister for Schools, said: "Uniforms can help to develop the right mindset among pupils, instilling pride and supporting positive behaviour and discipline. But wealth should never be a deterrent to opportunity. I want every child to be able to go to the school of their choice, so it is important that the cost of uniforms does not exclude or deter families from poorer backgrounds."
OFT calls for an end to exclusive school uniform retail arrangements
The OFT has announced the conclusion of its fact-finding review of the UK school uniform market.
The review sought to establish the degree to which schools restrict the supply of uniforms by requiring them to be bought from designated retailers or from the schools themselves, and whether this causes financial detriment to parents.
It found that 84 per cent of schools that require students to have a uniform impose restrictions on choice of supplier for at least one item of the uniform.Compulsory items purchased from designated retailers or schools were found to be on average 23 per cent more expensive than in uniform retailers generally, and 150 per cent more expensive than in supermarkets. Some schools claimed that these restrictive arrangements benefitted parents in terms of convenience and the quality of uniforms.
By comparing prices at exclusive outlets and retailers generally, the OFT estimates the total yearly detriment is £32m for parents buying secondary school uniforms, and £13m for primary school uniforms.
A third of schools operating exclusive contracts with retailers reported benefiting financially from them. Yet the detriment figure to parents is several times the amount schools say they make from these restrictive arrangements, which suggests that schools are not the chief beneficiary of higher prices paid by parents.
The findings of the study will be passed to the Department for Education and Skills, which is responsible for providing guidance to state schools in England on their uniform policies.
John Fingleton, Chief Executive of the OFT said:'This study has shown that parents have to pay higher prices for school uniforms where exclusive agreements exist. This restriction on competition acts as a 'tax' on parents, which mostly goes to the chosen retailers. We call on school governers to eliminate these exclusive agreements.'
