Be brave and positive. That was the
message of our Chair David Burgess to executive members
meeting in Manchester.
"It's a scarier world post Brexit but
we all have to be brave and remain positive," he said. "We have a new
Prime Minister, of course, and a new Education Secretary, Justine Greening, who
has sensibly said that she is going to look at the strategies her department
currently has in place before she changes anything."
He said: "Whenever there is a big
change, there are lots of opportunities, and that is what we have to look at.
There are downsides, such as the exchange rate that will mean prices rise but
as the Governor of the Bank of England has said, there is not enough
information about what will happen post Brexit to make a sensible decision
about the future. There are a lot of possibilities. As an industry, we have to
make sure we do a great job this year, to make sure we deliver in retail and
manufacture and all areas. There are all the signs that it will be a good back to
school period this year, and we have to make sure we deliver quality and value
to parents. We know from a Department for Education survey that eight out of
ten parents are satisfied with the arrangements for uniform at their children’s
schools, and we must all work to ensure that continues."
Our public affairs lead,
Matthew Easter, said Brexit was likely to delay the implementation of a
Treasury bill that would see the government guidelines for schools on
specifying uniform become law. In discussions with the Department for Education
before the referendum, he learned that they were awaiting a Parliamentary slot
to begin the process that would be the Autumn at the earliest before that
happened.
"Post Brexit, the chances of getting
a slot are diminished because of additional legislation that will now be
necessary," he forecast. The fact that the uniform legislation was part of
a bigger Treasury package of measures covering insurance, banking and mobile
phone charges meant it would be subject to lobbying from a large number of
affected industries which would likely further delay the process.
Another complication was that the
legislation could be affected by EU law which might no longer be applicable
after Britain formally leaves.
Executive member Donald Moore forecasts
that price rises as a result of the falling value of the pound would not be
passed on wholly by suppliers to retailers, and that retailers would not pass
on all of their increased costs to customers, shielding consumers from the full
effect. That is what happened after the 2008 crash, he said, leading to lean
times for the industry. "You won't see a 20 per cent price rise in store
just because the pound is 20 per cent weaker against the dollar," he
added.
Meanwhile, we are planning
talks with associations representing head teachers and governors to put the
case for good quality, good value, school-specific uniform and its benefits in
improved learning, better behaviour and child safety.
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