School Uniforms

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 19 September 2018.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 1:37, 19 September 2018

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.