Currently, school uniform is only VAT exempt on sizes the Government deems would fit children under the age of 14. The Schoolwear Association, which represents a significant proportion of the school uniform industry, those supplying to 75% of schools in the UK, believes this out-of-date tax ruling, dating back to the 1940s, must change. Many 11-13 year olds are tall for their age, and 33% of the UK's 11-15 year olds are overweight or obese, which means they require uniforms the Government has classified suitable for 13 years and over.

The Schoolwear Association has calculated that one 13 year old's parents could be paying as much as £20 more for their uniform than another due to government taxation.

In order to help keep The Schoolwear Association's campaign in the public eye, I organised an Untax Our Teens Day in my store, Early Years, in Solihull on July 21. Shop staff wore promotional T-shirts and decorated the store with helium balloons. To make the event a fun day for children we also handed out Untax Our Teens stickers, fluffy bugs and balloons.

In addition, Lorely Burt, Liberal Democrat MP for Solihull, visited the store on the day to show her support for The Schoolwear Association's campaign. She has been a long standing supporter of the Untax Our Teens Campaign and back in March signed the Early Day Motion entitled ‘VAT on School-Specific Uniforms' tabled by Conservative MP Nigel Evans in support of The Schoolwear Association's campaign.

Early Years' Untax Our Teens Day went very well and in the weekend following our event we received over 80 signatures on a petition in support of The Schoolwear Association's campaign and we hope to get many more during the Back to School period.

Moving forward, The Schoolwear Association is continuing to lobby the European Commission to turn its proposals into legislation and reduce the rate of VAT on upper body, badged school uniform items.

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