1. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on Welsh Government plans to publish new statutory guidance for school uniforms? OAQ52592

The Welsh Government will undertake a 12-week public consultation this autumn on school uniform and appearance policies. New updated and strengthened statutory guidance will come into force from September 2019.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. I note the comments in your recent statement about encouraging the parents and carers of eligible children to apply for pupil deprivation grant access funding for school uniform in particular. But I'm concerned that lots of those eligible for this are missing out. From my own personal experience locally, the way in which this information is communicated to parents is patchy and its effectiveness is variable. So, how is the Welsh Government encouraging councils and schools to promote this fund to students, particularly prior to the start of a new academic year?

Thank you, Vikki. As you'll be aware, for the first time ever this autumn term, assistance with the cost of school uniform is available not just for children entering into high school at year 7, but also for our youngest pupils beginning their school journey. The grant is also available to cover other costs associated with school, not just school uniform, such as PE kit and other school-day essentials. I will continue to work with local authorities to ensure that parents have the right information so that they can make a positive application to receive this funding, because we want all children who are eligible to have this assistance.

Following on from that, Cabinet Secretary, of course you will be aware of various stories at the beginning of school term of children being punished for not having the correct school uniform. I absolutely buy into the notion that we want all the children to look the same, and it's very important for school discipline and school morale, and so on. But one of the concerns I have is this view that we should punish the child for something that the parent has done. And I'm deeply concerned that—. It runs across not just school uniforms—I know Caroline Jones raised the issue not long ago with you about the child who couldn't go to the prom because she had Asperger's and couldn't get the grades. I've raised with you in the past the child who was punished because they had a chronic ill-health issue so they couldn't attend all the time, but the punishment was meted on the child, rather than the schools looking at the individuals concerned. Will you have another look at this, because of this school uniform issue, and about how we might proportionally represent, or proportionally treat children, and divide between those who don't do things they should do because they just don't feel like it and those who are put in an awkward position because of decisions made by parents and carers, because I think we're giving out the wrong message to these young people about responsibility?

Angela, school uniform policy is ultimately a matter for individual schools and their governing bodies, and it is for headteachers to decide what action to take when pupils infringe a school uniform policy. However, Welsh Government expects that, if the reason for that infringement is because families are in financial difficulties, schools should allow an appropriate amount of time for the required item to be purchased, for there to be some flexibility in the system, and not to be able to penalise that child. The guidance also highlights what financial assistance is available to families to assist in the purchase of school uniforms. A crucial part of any successful school is ongoing dialogue between headteachers, teaching staff, and their parents. But, ultimately, it is a matter for the governance of that school to decide what punishment, if any, is appropriate if there are infringements of that school's rules.

I welcome the u-turn performed by the Welsh Government earlier this year on its plans to scrap the school uniform grant, because when household budgets remain squeezed, particularly in my constituency of the Rhondda, going ahead with that would have been unthinkable. Now, around the time that these ill-advised plans were announced, I surveyed local schools in my constituency to see what their school uniform policy was, and I found that policy varied from school to school, with some insisting on the purchase of expensive items, with logos, and others being much more flexible. Like the Bevan Foundation, I'd like to see statutory guidance include a requirement for all schools to adopt a uniform that can be more generic and therefore lower cost. With this in mind, will you pay careful attention to the high annual cost of school uniform for families, and seek to provide an alternative solution for all when you issue your statutory guidance?   

Well, as I said in answer to Vikki Howells's initial question, the Government will go out to public consultation for 12 weeks this autumn on a new school uniform and appearance policy. The strengthened statutory guidance, I hope, will come into force for the start of the new academic year, and crucially, as part of that consultation, we will look to address issues of affordability and of giving flexibility to parents. So, for instance, when deciding on a school uniform for a high school, could there be some consideration as to the nature of the colour of some of the primary schools in that area? It doesn't seem necessary that you should have to discard a perfectly good pair of trousers or a school skirt when you transfer to the high school just because you're moving to a different school. So, there are lots of ways in which we can address issues of affordability and that is the purpose of the consultation and my determination to introduce statutory guidance in this area. 

Cabinet Secretary, I was really pleased to see the announcement that you're going to be consulting on statutory guidance, because, as you know, the existing policy document is actually very good and places a lot of emphasis on generic uniform. But most schools, I would contend, are not actually following that guidance as they should be, and I'm sure you'll have seen the coverage earlier this month of children being kept in a hall for not being in branded trousers, which is totally unacceptable. So, what assurances can you offer that you are going to take a very robust approach to this? But very importantly, how will you ensure that the voices of children and young people are heard through this consultation? 

Well, Lynne, as you've rightly identified, there is existing guidance. That was published in September 2013, but it is not of a statutory nature. The reason why I'm determined to address that issue is so that we can put on a legislative footing our expectations of governing bodies who will have to have due regard to the guidance when developing their own policies. This also gives us the opportunity not just to look at the issue of affordability in school uniform but at some of the issues that were perhaps not discussed in 2013, such as gender-neutral uniforms. This now gives us an opportunity to discuss those issues, and, clearly, the views of the children and young people will be crucial during the public consultation, and we will be ensuring that there are opportunities for young people to feed in so that they can tell us how they feel about the issue of school uniform and the role it plays in their school lives. 

Question 2 [OAQ52569] has been withdrawn. Question 3, therefore, Andrew R.T. Davies.