In our city, we already had some areas with high levels of child poverty. The economic impacts of the COVID crisis have made this situation even worse. 33,000 people were furloughed in our city and by June 2019 the numbers of households on Universal Credit had risen from 5,860 in February 2019  to 14,180 in May 2019. 

Secondary schools in Brighton and Hove have branded items which you can only source from a single supplier. My daughter's school have branded PE socks at £7 a pair, white polo neck shirts with a tiny logo at £8.95 (available for £4 on the high street without the logo). Without the branding you can save nearly £40. In addition, people need to have multiple items such as 2 or 3 polo necks to send their kids to school clean and smart. 

We challenge the heads to reduce the number of items with branding on to save hard pressed families money. No new uniform should cost more than £55 for mandatory items. 

Poverty means that every penny spent on uniform is taken from something else that child needs. Providing discounts using pupil premium helps, but that could be spent on enrichment such as free school trips.

Please listen to the city's families and act.