To ask if anyone is clued up on the challenge this week to VAT on school fees?

[feesss]

we went to look round a school this morning and we obviously asked about VAT and the lady showing us round said there has been a challenge this week so it may not happen? Is anyone aware of this? I can’t see much online about it?

Good luck from me too

Good, I'm very pleased they are doing this I hope they win.

So your logic is that you think you are more pro education than we are because we sent our DC to super selective grammars rather than to for the most part less selective private schools? And you assume that your DC will be brighter and better behaved than ours were because you paid for private schooling? That is laughable. My DC each got four A stars at A level and are all studying the most competitive courses at top universities. Two of the three were head girl/boy so I think their behaviour was pretty on the money. DC is a professor of Medicine and I am at a similar level in my field. But you must be more intelligent because you paid for private school. Okaaaay. I don't know how terrible a person you are or aren't but your critical thinking skills seem to be substantially lacking.

And people are now using Sen in their challenges as it suits their agenda when they haven’t given a shit about children with Sen and what was happening with their education for the past 14 years. I have real sympathies with the people that have Sen children in private schools they are self funding but the travesty is that they had to go into the private sector in the first place, the support should have been available in a mainstream school based on child’s needs

No, that’s not my logic or my opinion. I’m not actually sure how you’re arriving at that conclusion. I think you’re absolutely fantastic, incredibly bright and pro education. I’m sure your DCs are likewise.

if a school is named on an ehcp then the fees are paid by the local authority who can reclaim the vat so it’s irrelevant whether vat is charged or not. The Sen children who will be most effected are those without ehcps, where parents have gone for the option of self funding private rather than spending years fighting for an ehcp, they will still be subject to vat

Is it the case then that the policy can't come into force when there is an active legal challenge happening?

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/oct/31/private-schools-to-take-legal-action-against-planned-vat-on-fees

I was wondering too

Not technically, but the Government would be recklessly leaving themselves wide open to being sued for compensation by the 35000 children estimated to be immediately forced out the private sector when the legal challenge is upheld. They’d be back in the private sector pretty quickly after that, with a few years’ spare fees.

Thanks for explaining. I thought that I had misunderstood somehow. I’m kind of baffled that there is such a push towards this VAT: as from a purely financial point of view, I can’t see how this will raise more money

Interesting that increasing the duty on vapes will happen in 2 years but taxing education is happening in 2 months.
Really shows how much of a revenge tax the VAT on school fees is.
No way on any planet should taxing education be more of a priority than getting rid of vapes!

Because fiscal responsibility or sense has nothing to do with it.
Labour waging war on people they view as being Tory ie farmers, independent schools + pensioners.
Taxing education is unethical and petty. It is a revenge tax

All the schools in our city have pitches, and at least one 4G all weather - which they then lease on weekends to sports clubs. It’s standard practice.
my DCs play their weekend matches mostly on state school pitches-

Indeed. Near me there is a state secondary in a really deprived area that had a shiny new campus and amazing astro pitches. There are plenty of others in a twenty mile radius with similar. Way beyond what our private has. I don't begrudge it in any way at all, it's great, but just another example of the inaccuracies so often peddled.

So the private schools have hired a £5k per hour barrister to represent them and sue the government… interesting that they don’t have the cash to soften the impact of VAT on their parents but can afford one of the country’s leading barristers.
I’m sure the general public will be well behind this ‘human rights’ case…

No, the body representing the schools is paying for the ISC challenges, schools aren't paying directly. Other challenges have been crowd funded

In fairness, any substantial action against the state, especially judicial review, will need good solicitors and leading counsel. The government has as much money as it wants to fight and appeal cases. This has all the hallmarks of a case that will have to be fought up to the Supreme Court, whoever wins in the courts below.

Generally, though, I agree that pointless actions - like the long list of failed JRs brought by the Good Law Project - are an unnecessary burden on government resources, especially when, as with the GLP, the applicant’s standing was so obviously doubtful. That couldn’t be said of parents, independent schools or their association.

The ISC’s action is an example of exactly what JR is properly for.

ah.. so the politics of envy?

it reminds me of the threads in here where people go nuts if anyone earning over £30k dares to moan about the amount of tax they pay.

ive went from 5 to 4 days a week recently. A wee reduction of just over £13k a year, so £1k a month. In reality it’s ended up being only around £300 a month less that I’m coming home with.

Is that the outcome that is desired by Pannick and ISC?

That there would be compensation?

Actually I'm not sure, what is the best outcome for them do you think?

It is possible that part of the application will be for an immediate temporary injunction to stop the change being brought into force in January. They will probably be trying to obtain some court time before end of 2024 which will be hard with Christmas/NY just before that. I hope they win

Personally I don't want compo. I just want a ruling that makes Labour scrap the policy plus the resignation of Phillipson.

Just change the law to retrospectively deny compensation.

Just like the Tories did with workfare. (And Gerry Adams compensation for the 1970s Labour government breaking the law).

No, the aim is to reverse the policy and that is the best outcome for everyone. Nobody is pushing for compensation, but that is the likely recourse of Labour pushing on with the policy despite outstanding legal actions that are likely to be successful. Then the policy will be dropped.
I can’t see it going that way though, it will be delayed from going ahead in January before being later fully dropped. The division this has caused will not be so easily forgotten.

When was the last time a manifesto pledge was scrapped ?

Bearing in mind team Jenrick will be watching this carefully as they are planning to put forward pulling the UK out of the ECHR as a manifesto pledge.