Demands for more school uniform cash
.. and that’s after payments rise from £50 to £100
Struggling families will receive double the amount in the school clothing grant in the new term – but critics say this still falls short of the real cost of kitting out a child.
The increase from £50 to £100 from August was agreed at a meeting of South Lanarkshire Council’s executive committee.
But anti-poverty campaigners say this still falls short, even when shopping in supermarkets or discount stores.
Ne i g h b o u r i n g l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire pay £110 to eligible pupils from P1 to S4.
A bid by Labour councillors to boost the grant further was voted down by SNP and Tory councillors.
The Scottish Government – who introduced a minimum allowance for eligible parents – and local councils each pay half of the school clothing grant costs.
However, SLC’s SNP administration has been accused of not passing the increase on to claimants in full.
The government agreed to hand SLC an additional £358,000 this year – but not all of that cash is being passed on to parents/guardians.
East Kilbride South councillor Fiona Dryburgh said: “COSLA and the Scottish Government have agreed a deal t o deliver a school clothing grant of £100 to eligible pupils but the funding coming to the council exceeds what is required for a £100 grant.
“Instead of l etting t he council si t on that money or allocate it for other purposes, I put forward an amendment calling for the full value of the uplift to go into the school clothing grant.
“It seemed only right and fair that money coming to the council to ensure families can afford to send their children to school should be used for that exact purpose.
“I am deeply disappointed that the SNP and the Tories voted against a perfectly reasonable, progressive amendment.”
Councillor Lyn sey Hamilton, education spokesperson for South Lanarkshire’ s Labour Group, said: “Anti-poverty campaigners say that a school clothing grant of £129.50 would be a reasonable amount but at £100 the COSLA deal with the Scottish Government falls short.”
SNP councillor Josh Wilson replied: “The SNP took the decision to raise the school clothing grant from £50 to £75 during the budget and thanks to funding from the Scottish Government, will now increase it to £100 per pupil.
“That is double the amount Labour offered school pupils when they were in power. Their proposal would increase the grant by £6 and in turn risk taking money away from others that are yet to join the scheme.”
Tory councillor Mark McGeever said: “It ’s unfortunate the Labour Group didn’t make us aware of their proposal before the committee as we would have welcomed a chance to consider ways to ensure the extra money could get to everyone who needs it.
“Sadly, they only brought it up at the very last minute, at which point officers advised that their plan risked causing some people in need to lose out.”
Cheryl Burnett, South Lanarkshire parent representative, said :“I can understand why there may be political squabbling over this but the grant remained at £50 for a long time so I welcome the fact it is being doubled.”