School clothing grants need to be better promoted in Dundee

West End Dundee City Councillor Michael Crichton has today expressed concern at the drop in the number of families claiming school clothing grants in the city. He said Dundee City Council must redouble efforts to promote the availability of school clothing grants to eligible families in Dundee.

Councillor Crichton said:

“The council’s Liberal Democrat Group raised the issue of take-up of these vital grants at council committee recently and we are really concerned that, at a time of a cost-of-living crisis in the past couple of years, the number of families received a clothing grant actually fell – and it has been falling each and every year since 2019/20.” 

“Last academic year, over 850 fewer pupils received a school clothing grant than 5 years ago and that’s not the trend we had expected to see.”

“The downward trend in school clothing grant successful applications is worrying because we would have expected to see an increase in qualifying families during a cost-of-living crisis – not a decrease.”

The Liberal Democrat Group has asked council officers to redouble efforts to promote school clothing grants as widely as possible to ensure no qualifying pupil misses out.

The City Council’s Council Tax and Benefits Manager has advised :

“School Clothing Grants are currently being promoted via social media and  a press release issued pre agenda, we will continue to encourage the uptake of School Clothing Grants  in order to maximise support as much as possible.”

Councillor Crichton added:

 “It is vital that, in the run-up to the new school term, the council undertakes additional promotion of the availability of school clothing grants through news releases and social media. No pupil who qualifies for a school clothing grant should ever miss out.”