Council votes to cut school uniform grant

A council has voted to cut its school uniform fund by £1.3m and restrict eligibility to fewer families.

Reform UK-led Wakefield Council recently announced that financial support for buying uniforms would only be available to "those who need it most", including children eligible for free school meals and families experiencing hardship.

Rachel Speak, leader of the council's Liberal Democrat group and a Knottingley & Ferrybridge councillor, had tabled a motion calling for the previous scheme to be reinstated but this was rejected at a full council meeting.

The revised £700,000 scheme replaces a £2m fund approved by the previous Labour administration, which provided vouchers to all parents.

Council leader Karl Johnson called the previous scheme "reckless".

Matthew Caton, the council's cabinet member for children and young people, previously said: "Targeting the limited funding we have directly towards the children and families who need it most is common sense and what any responsible council should be doing.

"The universal giveaway we inherited from the previous administration was never the best use of public money.

"The scheme we're putting in place will provide support that is deliverable and good value and it enables us to invest in other essential local services to improve the lives of our residents."

At the meeting, Caton added that assessing the eligibility of families in need of support would be done on a "case-by-case" basis.

Under the revised plans, families who are deemed eligible will be offered £30 per child.

Labour lost control of the council in May's local elections after Reform took 58 out of the 63 seats.

Speak, who works at the Ferrybridge Community Centre, said she did not believe the new-look council had had time to assess how many families needed the support.

"Working people on minimum wage need the support as much as people who live on benefits too," she said.

"They all need the support, not just one or the other.

"When I was at school, people who couldn't get the right uniform or their parents couldn't keep up with the cost were the ones that got bullied."

Caton added that the council was committed to reducing overspending.

He said: "By reducing the cost of this scheme by £1.3m we can repurpose our resources into local services to improve our communities."

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