As the summer holidays draw to a
close, and due to ongoing affordability concerns, the Competition and Markets
Authority (CMA) has published a blog on whether school uniform policies might
be at risk of breaching competition law.
This is not the first time that the
UK competition authorities have been concerned about competition law and school
uniform policy. Particular concerns have been raised about exclusive supply
arrangements with uniform suppliers.
In 2015, the CMA wrote to schools
and suppliers to remind them about their obligations under competition law.
The CMA is urging school leaders to
consider whether their uniform policy is in the best interest of pupils and
parents. The CMA provides a number of
suggestions:
1.
Schools and their governing bodies and academy
trusts should consider how to use competitive tender processes to get the best
results when awarding contracts.
2.
If a contract has been awarded to a manufacturer
for sale through third party retailers, care should be taken that there are no
provisions that fix the minimum price that the uniform can be sold at, which
could constitute resale price maintenance.
3.
Consideration could be given to how many items
of uniform are branded or highly tailored to the school and whether this
reduces the number of suppliers who will choose to invest in a stock uniform
that can only be sold to a small pool of customers.
4.
Schools give consideration to extending the
lifespan of uniform, for example by offering a pre-loved uniform shop.
https://competitionandmarkets.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/23/school-uniforms-is-your-policy-at-risk-of-breaking-the-law/
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