Schoolwear Association Member Update - 5th June

Schoolwear Association: General Election Update

The Labour Party are finalising their manifesto ?

Given the substantial lead that Labour has in the polls, it is highly likely that they will form the next Government on 4th of July.

The Labour Party will agree its manifesto on Friday. Although we believe the manifesto will be publicly announced on Thursday 13th of June, leaks may trickle through from the weekend.

Given the previous comments by senior shadow ministers on school uniform, we believe there is a strong possibility that the manifesto will include a reference to ‘strengthening the statutory guidance for school uniforms’. This will likely be pooled together with wider measures to support families with the cost of living.

It is also possible that the manifesto will include a pledge to ‘cap the number of branded items to 3 garments’, as trailed by the media. We have already written to Sir Keir Starmer and his shadow education team to set out why this would be a counter-intuitive and damaging policy move for schools, parents, pupils and our industry. In addition, we are currently running a survey of headteachers in England to quantify our argument further.

We are closely monitoring for developments on the manifesto and will advise more as soon as we can. In addition, we are working with our team at WA to enact a robust media and public affairs strategy to mitigate the risk of Labour’s plans.

How you can help the SA

1. Write to your parliamentary candidates

Step 1: Download the template letter to send to LABOUR parliamentary candidates.

Step 2: Tailor the letter to your local Labour parliamentary candidate (you can find their name and email here).

Step 3: Send the letter as an email to your local candidates and copy in [email protected], so our team can help with follow-ups.

* Do email us if you have any difficulties finding the?Labour candidate in your area.

2. Meet with Labour Party decisionmakers

The Schoolwear Association is also writing directly to Labour Party candidates to discuss the unintended consequences of proposals to amend the statutory guidance on school uniform.

We are offering to meet candidates on the campaign trail and would like to be joined by a local retailer in their constituency.

If you would like to opt out from being selected as a local retailer that Labour candidates can meet with, please complete this form. ?

3. Connect us with a case-study

Thank you to all members who have connected us with headteachers and teachers for supportive case-studies so far. It is critical we have as many positive case-studies as possible.

Please do get in touch with us at[email protected] if you have a headteacher who would be prepared to share their experience.

4. Support the fund to support your industry

It goes without saying that the impacts that Labour’s policy on school uniform could have on our industry would be far reaching and change it forever.

We are therefore faced with the reality we will have to do more during the remainder of 2024 (and potentially beyond) to ensure our messages are heard in Westminster and the other devolved administrations across the UK to protect our industry, businesses and ultimately livelihoods.

Unfortunately, this level of resource will stretch SA finances beyond where our current reserves will allow, so we will be launching a new fund raise in the coming weeks with the aim of raising enough to ensure we can do the best job we can to protect our industry.

We will advise more details soon but, in the meantime, please consider what you can give to support at this critical time.?