To think that those private school parents banging on about their fees

[Thegreatergoodgerald]

Seriously have misjudged how little anyone else gives a stuff??? NHS, social care, state education, public transport, bloody potholes everywhere - that’s what matters to everyone I know.
Not whether or not VAT is added to a business.

YANBU - it’s hardly the end of the world if Clemmie or Charles end up going to a state school. We have bigger things to worry about in the U.K. right now

YABU - of course everyone cares private school parents might have to pay more

@coupdetonnerre fear not I'm already paying my 45% and I may skip out of Brexit Britain if Labour increases that too much. I am simply speaking as someone who is jaded (rather than bitter) after years of hearing bollocks from smug colleagues/friends with children in private schools who keep forgetting my dcs go/went to the local comps and grammars (a couple of them went private in junior school until I, an ex-private girl myself who had a ridiculous unfounded fear of the state sector, realised that the states weren't sink holes of deprivation and lack of eduction).

Well the NASUWT is worried about taxing private schools. Concerned about small indies shutting and the pressure on state schools to pick up the pieces.

I think that tells you it’s not such a simple policy with only benefits for the country.

My DC is privately educated. They may go to the grammar school or they will stay in an indie school. We can suck up the VAT but it does mean less money going into the local economy as we won’t be eating out, shopping, socialising half as much.

That’a a natural consequence of the VAT but I’m Ok with that.

THIS! I've no skin in the game but PS parents I know are already applying to the state schools due to cost of living and uncertainty over fees with a likely labour win, they're good schools but places will be squeezed. It's not just the 6% and disparaging Clarence and Cresedella name references, it will be the education system as a whole which lets face it, apart from the few 'im alright mate' comments is creaking a bit already... All of society should certainly be interested in something which is going to impact education plus what is and isn't VAT'able... If they come for education they'll not back down on other parts of it, tax only tends to grow rather than retreat sadly.

Even if nurseries and universities do have to pay vat, it doesn't mean parents or students have to pay more Given nurseries and universities are state funded to some extent, if they do have to pay vat the state can just give them more money.

Whether it makes financial sense is not really the point. You're prioritising owning a home and saving for Uni. Some parents prioritise private school fees, for a range of reasons, often that their child is suffering in mainstream for whatever reason. Define "can't afford". Might mean moving to a different part of the country, spending less on food, using less energy, giving up a nice car, going on fewer days out. But there are private school parents making those choices.

I agree but the problem is that there needs to be global alignment of corporate and personal tax regimes to make this feasible and there will always be countries where the benefit of imposing very low taxes is outweighed by the value of the companies being based there. Global alignment will therefore never happen.

On this specific issue ( how to raise money for education) I think an annual low CGT on value uplift of all residential property would be fairer and raise more than VAT on school fees because it better addresses inter generational inequality.

I have never felt my childrens education has been devalued by the kids who've left their state primary school for private. In fact private did us a favour when the naughtiest most disruptive kid left.

I think private education is a scam anyway.

@BIossomtoes · Today 16:42
lhlh · Today 16:36

If most people's kids are thriving in the state sector, then why is the private school VAT money needed for it? You can't have it all ways.

Show quote history
To even the playing field and help them thrive more

Blossomtoes according to a large number of posters on another private/state thread, state schools are better than private schools so why does the playing field need to be made more even?

Exactly - everyone pays an extra 1% would actually raise enough to do something meaningful.

VAT on schools is likely to raise nothing, and might even cost more for the state.

Incredibly hard? And people on lower incomes don’t. Nah, given the UK’s poor social mobility, I’d wager that the majority of parents sending their kids to private school got a nice leg up from the bank of mum & dad in the form of house deposit and/or paying their university costs and/or family business/contacts etc etc. If anything I’d say private school kids’ parents probably work less hard on average than normal families on average income.

A lot of local state schools here have, on paper, feeder schools. Most children from those schools then go on to the linked junior school or secondary school.

However, the feeder status either isn't on the list of priorities for school enrolment or appears after catchment.

And a lot of secondaries have removed the sibling criteria too.

All the people I know who use private schools live in catchments of good state schools. Of those likely to be affected they plan to keep their child in the current school until either it's time to apply to the next stage, and then move to state, or to join the state school waiting list and keep on until a place becomes available.

Do people really think these children will end up in the lower attaining or 'inadequate' schools?

Fair enough. Does the useless health service, inadequate justice system, incompetence in managing the economy leading to massive inflation, etc, not affect you?

It does seem odd to vote based on this one issue when there are so many more pressing issues

@Thegreatergoodgerald
"Not whether or not VAT is added to a business."

Actually, I disagree with you because of the negative effect this may have on local schools.
Remember, all those parents pay taxes for state education, AS WELL as paying for private education.
If 20 percent added to the bills, no one knows how many parents (and their children) will opt out of the private school system, and return to the state education. THis means those places now in private education will have to be funded. For example, if every single private school closed and all those children had to be educated within the state section, then the Gov would have to find ALL the extra money.
Obviously, not all will leave, but no one knows how many.
I understand that Starmer has costed around 5 percent, but it could be more.

(Note. all my DC were educated in the state section)

No if course not, they will move heaven and earth to avoid that

It's going to mean that state schools become oversubscribed and the quality of state education decreases.

Bollocks. How to tell you have no idea what you are talking about.

You have no idea about the background of private school parents.
I am well educated through grammar school and that enabled me to go to Uni and then on to PhD. Nothing to do with my parents who have never given me a thing financially.
DH is from ex-mining town in NE and he was the first person in his family to stay on at school past 16.

But don't let that stop you inventing stereotypes and sweeping assumptions

If 5% leave then the added income from the vat the remainder pay for their school fees will cover their state education about 17 times over.

In the UK at least there is no security with renting a property, home life has a much greater impact on a child’s future opportunities than any school or college so it is an illogical move to prioritise a fee paying education over owning a home. Surely, spend the money on moving areas for better state provision if your child is not doing well in state school. Money on good food is important to me as you are spending money on your child’s health.

Absolute rubbish. That’s certainly not our position, or many other families we know. We both went to state comprehensives and have paid for everything ourselves.

If you can afford private schools and private health, good for you. It makes no odds to me.

I don’t expect people to care but I do expect people to be respectful and not be abusive. I have been called pathetic and stuck up on another thread because I criticised the policy. A weeks ago I was accused of having a favourite child because I have one DC in state and one in private. Oh and apparently I launched a personal attack on state school teachers…but I never mentioned state school teachers.

@PrincessTeaSet
"If 5% leave then the added income from the vat the remainder pay for their school fees will cover their state education about 17 times over."
Exactly, Starmer has costed for 5 percent.
But if 20 percent leave then it makes a bigger difference.
At what point will there be a loss?

OP I'm not seeing any private school
Parents demanding or expecting sympathy from state school parents. What have you seen to suggest this?