Our latest letter sent to Mr Cameron..... Dear Mr Cameron Re: Dept for Education ignoring the CMA & others, over rip off School uniform costs This is the second time we have written to you because we feel this matter needs your attention. We know you are inundated with requests, but this matter is important. We are writing to you once again as the Dept. of Education is ignoring the OFT reports of 2012 (they spent 6 years investigating this issue and would not have done so had it not been important or justified!) the published CMA letter of 2015, which once again asked Schools/Academies to take a look at their policies and follow the 2013 Govt. Guidelines on uniforms, the Children's Society have also been lobbying the DofE on this matter to no avail! We are implore you to intervene, this matter needs to be addressed and not swept under the rug anymore. The DofE have told us and others they feel this matter needs to remain a local decision, well this is not good enough, this stance is clearly not working and is quite frankly being abused by a very large number of Schools/Academies throughout the UK. The secondary education establishments are the worst, they are demanding uniforms which exceed £200 per child! They demand logo's on trousers and skirts, the entire PE kit as well as ALL tops worn, so children are wearing on average 4 items of uniform with a logo on at any one time, this is just ridiculous. A large number of them are also adding blazers to the list (a large number of primary's are beginning to do this too) parents are not completely against blazers but when they deliberately demand finishes on these blazers (or any other item of uniform) that mean you cannot possibly buy them from anywhere other than the School's/Academy's designated supplier then this is a back door way of ripping parents off. All aspects of a School/Academy uniform should be plain and readily available from a multiple number of high street retailers so that parents/carers can choose where to spend their money. The logo's should not be mandatory, ALL Schools/Academies should be forced to have logo free uniforms so that parents who like the logo's can buy a logo uniform and parents who do not wish to purchase logo uniforms can buy plain uniform. We have spoken to many parents on this subject and believe us when we say that it won't just be the disadvantaged pupils who will wear the plain uniform, we know of many families who would like this option and they are not on the poverty line! We are breaking our Academies rules by sending our twins to School with plain uniform which is 4X cheaper than the Academies designated only supplier of logo uniforms, we receive no benefits or tax credits, our children are not picked on and they are the only children in the School doing this, which proves that the logo's are an unnecessary expensive burden placed on parents by the Schools/Academies purely to line their own pockets with the kick backs they get from the uniform suppliers! The Govt. Guidelines on uniforms recommend offering a plain uniform where possible readily available from supermarkets etc but this is not being followed by a very large number of establishments because in our own Head Teachers words, "they are just guidelines and we don't have to follow them". As long as the DofE allow the decisions on uniforms to be made at a local level this will keep on happening. Please tell us how is it fair for Schools/Academies up and down the country to have uniform prices varying from £11+ per child to £200+ per child? It needs to be standardised throughout the country and that will only happen with the Govt's intervention! Nicky Morgan and Nick Gibb are ducking this issue, the DofE are burying this matter. If you do not believe us, just ordinary parents then please contact the CMA or the Children's Society they will back up our concerns. We urge you to get involved and take the power away from the Head's/Governing Body's with regards to uniforms and give it back to the parents. Parents want the right to choose where they buy uniforms from and whether they want them to wear a School/Academy logo or not. The Government guidelines in this matter appear fair and reasonable but all the time the Schools/Academies are allowed to ignore them without fear of sanction then what is the point of having the guidelines in the first place. We look forward to hearing your views on this matter, however if it's just going to be another stock reply from one of your junior staff telling us that it's up to the DofE to decide, then thank you for your time but you are failing parents throughout the UK and therefore children throughout the UK who are the ones suffering as per the Children's Society's report, 'The Wrong Blazer Time for Action on School Uniform Costs', please take the time to read it. Please take the time to meet with both the CMA and the Children's Society to listen to this issue before you dismiss it or pass the buck back to the Dept which has repeatedly failed on this issue since 2013! Yours sincerely..... let's see if we get another stock reply!!