FOI Request - School Clothing Grant
Request 101003969029
1. Amount of school clothing grant set by the authority for the school years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 detailing any difference between primary and secondary if this occurred.
2. Total amount of money the authority has awarded in school clothing grant in each of the school years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
3. Total number of families awarded school clothing grants in each of the school years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
4. Total number of children that have been awarded grants for school clothing in each of the school years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
5. Breakdown of the number of awards for those attending primary or secondary, and (if applicable) nursery or special school for each of the school years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
6. Total amount of money the authority has received from the Scottish Government for school clothing grant for each of the school years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.
7. Are 16–18-year-olds who are in receipt of Education Maintenance Allowance eligible for school clothing grant?
8. Does the authority automatically pay the school clothing grant? If so, what criteria are used? (For example, when families are entitled to housing benefit, or Council Tax Reduction). If not, what are the reasons or barriers (for example, resources, data capabilities, legal).
9. Does the authority roll over families’ entitlement to school clothing grant from one school year to the next? If so, how many families benefitted from this in the 2025-2026 school year?
10. Does the authority identify families that may be entitled to school clothing grant, but aren’t receiving it and contact them to advise them to apply it? If so, what type of information is used to identify these families? (for example, housing benefit and Council tax reduction records, please specify all types of data used). If not, what are the reasons or barriers (for example, resources, data capabilities, legal).
11. Is information recorded according to the 6 priority family types* identified as being at higher risk of child poverty?
12. Has any additional help been given to families for school clothing in 2025-26? For example, an extra one-off payment. If so what type, how much was it and how many payments were made?
13. How many requests for school clothing grant were turned down for the school years 2025-26?
14. Reasons applications were not successful (if this information has been recorded) with number for each type of reason, e.g., income too high.
15. How many exceptional requests were made for help with school clothing, over and above the amount set by the authority in each of the school years 2025-26?
Response 22-04-2026
1. Clothing grant year runs from April to March
2024/25 - £120 for Primary School pupils and £150 for Secondary School pupils
2025/26 - £120 for Primary School pupils and £150 for Secondary School pupils
2. 2024/25 - £197,340
2025/26 - £195,720
3. 2024/25 – 895
2025/26 – 871
4. 2024/25 – 1498
2025/26 – 1488
5. 2024/25 – 912 primary & 586 secondary
2025/26 – 916 primary & 572 secondary
6. The Council does not receive a specific or ring fenced grant from the Scottish Government for school clothing grants. However, an element of the Council’s overall funding settlement is assessed as contributing towards the cost of schemes such as school clothing grants. Based on the funding settlement methodology, the amounts attributable to school clothing grants were as follows:
• 2024/25 - £527,000
• 2025/26 - £474,000
7. No
8. The qualifying criteria can be found here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_55486.html
Clothing Grants can be paid automatically using Free School Meal (FSM), Council Tax Reduction (CTR) & Housing Benefit (HB) data.
9. One clothing grant is paid per qualifying pupil per year – (April to March)
10. FSM, HB and CTR data used to find potential new entitlement.
11. No
12. No
13. Not held. Information is not held but there would be no entitlement if the qualifying criteria was not shown to be met. Information that is not held falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information not held.
14. Please see 13.
15. 0
16. Not applicable