School uniforms- Competition Act 1998?

[emmaf01]

My four year old son starts school in September. So we have found out that the only supplier of the school regulation uniform only supplies via the school. Which is shut until school starts.

 

When hunting for an alternative supplier- there isn't one- I came across a note on Teachernet (part of the DCSF) in DCSF guidance to schools on school uniform and related policies,

 

"7. Schools or retailers that have exclusive contracts with suppliers may in principle be subject to enforcement action under Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998, on the grounds that these exclusive agreements may restrict competition between retailers to supply uniform."

 

Now, if I can't get hold of a sweatshirt, polo shirt, PE shirt and shorts, my child will have to start school not complying with the school's uniform policy. They might send him home- and orders for uniform via the school can take up to a months to be processed.

 

And now I find they seems to be against regulations and now the Competition Act with their policy.

 

We live in an affluent area but we are on benefits. We have applied for the local council school clothing grant (and free school meals) but haven't received anything yet. I'm going to try putting a notice in the newsagent window to see if we can get anything second hand.

 

Can I fight this policy in anyway? Can I even force the school to tell us the name of the supplier so we can deal direct? Any ideas?

[legalpickle]

My four year old son starts school in September. So we have found out that the only supplier of the school regulation uniform only supplies via the school. Which is shut until school starts.

 

When hunting for an alternative supplier- there isn't one- I came across a note on Teachernet (part of the DCSF) in DCSF guidance to schools on school uniform and related policies,

 

"7. Schools or retailers that have exclusive contracts with suppliers may in principle be subject to enforcement action under Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998, on the grounds that these exclusive agreements may restrict competition between retailers to supply uniform."

 

Now, if I can't get hold of a sweatshirt, polo shirt, PE shirt and shorts, my child will have to start school not complying with the school's uniform policy. They might send him home- and orders for uniform via the school can take up to a months to be processed.

 

And now I find they seems to be against regulations and now the Competition Act with their policy.

 

We live in an affluent area but we are on benefits. We have applied for the local council school clothing grant (and free school meals) but haven't received anything yet. I'm going to try putting a notice in the newsagent window to see if we can get anything second hand.

 

Can I fight this policy in anyway? Can I even force the school to tell us the name of the supplier so we can deal direct? Any ideas?

 

Call the Office of Fair Trading [http://www.oft.gov.uk] helpline, they deal with enforcing breaches of the Competition Act together with the Competition Commission [http://www.competition-commission.org.uk], but the Competition Commission only makes investigations and recommendations when prompted by another organization.

 

Also contact your local education authority ["LEA"], call your council switchboard and they should put you through and/or give you the direct number.

 

If still having trouble, try Consumer Direct 08454-04-05-06 or try posting here, but I seriously doubt anybody will be able to help, unfortunately. Worth a shot, but don't hold your breath. The OFT is your best bet, but it's hit and miss with their helpline. If you get somebody useless try calling a few times for somebody more helpful. If no luck, then call the switchboard and pretend your a business calling to whistleblow on a cartel - don't give any name other than your first name to the switchboard - and ask them to put you through to the relevant team, then explain your problem to them! Worked for me when I needed something similar!

 

Good luck & keep us posted.

[gyzmo]

I think the main crux here is whether the school has just gone to one shop and asked them to supply it (or one shop approaches the school) as opposed to one seller choosing to supply it out of several that could but chose not to.

 

I know my school used to have one shop exclusively supply their uniforms. They did put sales out in other shops but they refused to stock them. One cannot force a seller to sell what they do not want to.

 

Have you asked the school if you can buy direct from the manufacturer if if they have other suppliers you may not be aware of? Hope it works out.

[honey5]

you apparently need to put your concerns and the benefit issues in writting to the school, they will then assess the situation re uniforms being subsidised. Do the polo shirts have the school logo on them?

 

honeyx

[gyzmo]

Or can you buy logos, badges etc separately and sew them onto clohing that can be bought eslewhere?

 

Couldn't do that at my school because no-one stocked the colours (and they were really strict on it).

[emmaf01]

The sweatshirts, PE shirts and shorts are all printed and the polo shirts are embroidered I think.

 

I wouldn't mind if the uniform was only available through one shop, but its not. It is only available through the school itself... which is shut for the holidays!

 

This is mental!