To be completely shocked by this - Bridget can’t tell us the impact of the government’s VAT on Education?

[Sasskitty]

Bridget Phillipson dodges question on impact of private school tax raid

As parents and schools complain of chaos, Ms Phillipson refuses to spell out details of the assessment made by the department for education

Bridget Phillipson failed to spell out the full impact of the government’s private school VAT raid, dodging the question when asked about the possible implications for special education schools.

While she said the government has “looked at all of the potential impacts”, her answer failed to provide any real detail on the expected consequences.

It comes as parents and schools complain about the implications of the tax raid, which came into force on New Year’s Day and is expected to raise £1.5bn for the Treasury.

YABU - Bridget Phillipson has it all in hand. She just didn’t feel like answering the pesky question. The point is to piss rich people off. Leave Labour alone, they want nothing but erm oh I’m not sure.

YANBU - Phillipson clearly has no idea what the impact of VAT on Education will be. Nor does she really care as long as she’s seen to be punishing those horrible rich people. Or even better (it seems) the not really rich ones just trying to improve the education of their children as the available state schools were not suitable.

https://apple.news/AO7fcmrzuRaik4stLaPQxwA

(sorry paywall but there’s not much more in the article)

PS. I’ve removed the poll tally, no one needs to see real data. Do they?

Of course they’re businesses. They charging huge amounts of money for a service, which is fine- if there’s a demand for that service and people are willing to pay, go for it but the tax breaks are going.
If you can’t afford it, or so t think it’s worth the money, don’t use the service!

Completely doing away with charity status will help with the ‘confusion’ over the definitions.

They aren't doing away with charity status. That has been explained to you many times.
Exam boards, Academies + training providers are also classed as educational charities. Maybe campaign to get them re-classified

I didn't say I didn't believe anything. I was just saying that your comment that they are charities is just another classification. Which you have just demonstrated.

Not yet but that shouldn’t be too long in coming. Particularly as the schools start to roll back the pitiful bursaries they bother with now. It’ll be even harder to defend ‘charity’ status.

It isn't coming. Hope that helps. You literally have nothing to offer other than repeating goady statements about tax breaks and charitable status. Both of which are incorrect.

You clutch at the straws, lovely. Hang on tight.

If half of these multi million £££ businesses weren’t classified as ‘charities’ , defended that position and taken all the benefits that brings I doubt these steps on VAT would have been taken at all.
Something had to give though. Blame these schools own hubris.

It was just an easy policy for Labour to tout when there's not much they can do that won't harm economic growth.

Even the policies they are using now are doing that by shrinking the private sector

They had to throw up something for the get the rich crowd. It won't do much to improve education, probably the opposite.

‘They had to throw up something for the get the rich crowd’??

oh okay. Well, I am one of the ‘got plenty of money but believe that we should be focussing on wider participation not handing out tax breaks to those who don’t need them crowd’ myself included and I am willing to give it a go and see what happens.

You typify the sort of person who comments with confidence from a position of complete ignorance.

If you have got “plenty of money” how much additional voluntary income tax do you pay if you are so keen on what you believe to be equality?

Right. Of course. the ‘additional voluntary income tax’ scheme - I forgot all about that …🤣

It exists.

Thank goodness for the frequent reminders about it on these threads.

I am sure you are going to tell us your net worth is 10 million plus, self made entirely (no spouses) AND you frequently give to genuine charities? And you sent your DC to state schools to do the schools and others a big favour?

I sent my kids to normal School because that’s what most people do,
and state school was my experience.
And that’s fine. And if others chose to send their kids to private school then that’s their choice and also fine.
Tax breaks are being removed - which I fully support, along with most of the country. If that means some families no longer think private school is worth the money then they don’t.

TBH the doubling of fees over the last decade has already made a lot of families decide it’s not worth the money.

Except "most of the country" is incorrect as are most of your assertions
2024 Civitas Survey

I just want to let you all know that I am going to do the right thing now, I am really going to live and do the right thing and I am going to cancel going to work and I am going to cancel my private healthcare, and you know all the tax breaks I have been getting. And I am going to sign on and really use the NHS, because you know, that is the right thing to do, rather than keep living on tax breaks.

I don’t think anyone with even a modicum of intelligence could genuinely believe what you have written is anything other than complete nonsense.

It's completely ridiculous, and nothing but a cost saving measure. My child is completely unsuitable for mainstream state school, as are many other children. Keeping them there is a disservice not only to them, but also to other children, who have their education interrupted due to the attempt at including children who are not suitable. In many cases, including my own child, this leads to very challenging behaviour due to disregulation.

Good luck living off benefits. Perhaps trying to might provide some perspective.
They won’t kick in immediately obviously, but once you have used any savings and proved that you’re actively looking for work, they’ll eventually kick in.

You seem to know a lot about being on benefits. I assume you are or were on benefits. I'm sorry to hear that. And yet you say you are also very rich.

You take taxpayer funding for school places for your children when you could easily relieve the burden on the state by financing them yourself. And yet at the same time you want more tax to be paid by other people in order to finance this state provision so that it is free for you.

You laugh at the concept of you yourself paying more tax.

You come on a thread about private schools and post really enthusiastically although you didn't go to one and neither do your children.
You goad people that do actually fund their own kids as well as pay their taxes for the state provision for your kids.

Why are you wasting your time on posting on this?

@Letlooseonthedanse - what perspective darling? I am proud of the fact I contribute positively to society, regardless of the gaslighting from some quarters. There is no need to insult our intelligence you know. We did not get where we are, because we are stupid.

And at this juncture, the normal MN phrase to you should be: “Is that you Angela?”

This whole thing boils down to “you cannot wish away the SEND crisis, by making private school parents the baddies.”

It seems a really odd thing to do if you strip away all the socialist idealogy. To create a situation where state schools will have to make extra provision for SEND children and bear the new cost but the government have done nothing much about actually making arrangements for this. And to not give themselves much time to do so as they've been in such a rush.

Either way, it is a massive political miscalculation. Because you do not use populist, political policies to target children, and especially not children with disabilities and special educational needs. There is just something very fundamentally grotesque in doing that. So I really do hope the legal system protects them from this madness.

It’s taking away a tax break. That is all. Everyone needs to chill the f out a bit. No-one is getting rid of the private school system.