Parents in England skipping meals to afford school uniforms, survey finds  (Quelle: The Guardian)

Education secretary urges schools to change uniform requirements as costs force many parents into debtParents in England are skipping meals and turning to buy-now-pay-later services such as Klarna in order to afford school uniforms before the autumn term, according to a survey.Almost half (47%) of the 2,000 parents who took part in the poll said they were worried about uniform costs, which can run into hundreds of pounds due to expensive branded items, while more than a quarter (29%) said they had forgone food or heating to pay for uniforms. Continue reading…

Scrapping of audit watchdog for English councils ‘led to soaring costs and chaos’  (Quelle: The Guardian)

High critical report finds that instead of promised annual saving of £100m, fees have rocketed amid financial crisisDavid Cameron’s “bonfire of the quangos” decision to abolish England’s council spending watchdog has left a broken system that is costing taxpayers more money than it was promised to save.In a highly critical report, academics at the University of Sheffield said the coalition government of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had promised savings of £100m a year by abolishing the Audit Commission. Continue reading…