Local MLA's raise concern over proposal to cut uniform grant

Friday, 7 July 2017 07:39

by Gráinne Connolly

Local MLA's have hit out at the decision to cut the uniform grant by £3 million.

West Tyrone SDLP MLA, Daniel McCrossan says that proposals to cut school uniform grants would represent a major blow for struggling families.

In a statement released Councillor McCrossan said he has written to the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Education urging a reversal of these proposals.

McCrossan said:

"These reports are alarming and represent a hammer blow for the many struggling families out there who are trying to make ends meet.

Any cut in this grant will undoubtedly impact the most poor and vulnerable in society - this is completely unacceptable.

Coming from an area rife in social deprivation, poverty and unemployment, I know first-hand how important these grants are for families.

I have helped fill in forms for people, I have tried to get many families the help and support they need, I know they are really struggling.

How far will cuts now go? The failure to achieve a political resolution is only pushing more and more families towards foodbanks. Something has to give.

It is absolutely clear, that now more than ever, all political parties need to pull together rather than pull apart.

We need to work with urgency to restore the institutions in order to ensure that we can deliver in the interests of all people in Northern Ireland, not least, our children."

To conclude, Councillor Daniel McCrossan also said he will be seeking urgent clarification from the Department of Education and standing firm against this "attack" on low income families.

Fermanagh South Tyrone UUP MLA, Rosemary Barton has also expressed her anger at the decision to cut uniform funding by 60%.

Councillor Barton, who is also a former school teacher said:

“It was only last year when the then Education Minister emphasised that school uniform grants provide vital support for non-working and low income families to overcome some of the financial barriers which they face in seeking to ensure their children have a good education.

Whilst I understand the Department of Education is in a difficult budgetary position, going after so much of the support for our more vulnerable schoolchildren is deplorable.

This demand by the Department of Education to slash the level of funding for school uniforms is what happens when some politicians abdicate their responsibilities and place crucial decisions in the hands of civil servants.

This decision is just the latest in a growing list of issues that have come about as a direct result of the stalemate at Stormont. Sinn Fein have a brass neck in condemning the decision to reduce the grant, given their pivotal role in preventing a new Education Minister being appointed.

They are continuing to put their political demands ahead of what is in the interests of local schoolchildren, and desperate to avoid any culpability, they seemingly have no hesitation to then engage in rank hypocrisy.”