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?

Absolutely. But that's not the same as saying that they cannot be educated in a mainstream setting.

Which means those already there should have been treated differently from those starting in the future? Rather than an ambush half way through a school year? There is literally nothing proportional in how they have gone about implementing this policy and no regard to the mental well being of thousands and thousands of children and families already grappling with the challenges of SEND.

At least with the child benefit cap, it only applied at a certain future date to future children, not yet born.

Given that schools have known this was coming for years, 6 months was plenty of time.

No-one in their right mind would think introducing this mid year was a good or fair idea. Labour may not have won, they may not have followed through..they're taking three years to "consult" over social care, there are legal issues to consider. There was every reason for parents, especially parents dealing with the issues we have been discussing, to expect, believe and hope that adult politicians wouldn't use their children as collateral damage in a popularity contest.

@Letlooseonthedanse - nobody had any notice. Labour won in June and the policy was announced in July. A party winning is never a certainty. And it was implemented half way through an academic year, completely unforgivable. I hope there will be an inquiry.

Go read the FT and educate yourself. We are reliant on foreign direct investment.

This kind of policy is not only detrimental to our own children, it also puts off foreign investment and harms the economy. It’s just another sign that Britain is not open for growth and aspiration and doesn’t even value and protect some of its own vulnerable children.
High taxation no return Britain. It’s a complete dud and should be scrapped. The longer it continues, the worse the outcomes. Greece being a case in point and a warning.

All this bleating has got to be dying down soon. It’s happened. VAT is being charged, the sky hasn’t fallen in.
Time to accept the changes and bloody move on. There are still new private schools opening and current ones expanding, so the private sector clearly hasn’t been that badly hit. And as for some of the schools that are closing - READ their own statements. They have be struggling YEARS, not viable for YEARS.
just as some state schools are having to merge or close because of the falling birth rate.
If you can’t manage a business to make it viable, then that business will close - it’s not up to anyone else to do anything about it.

Don't be fooled. Labour chose mid school year to avoid the immediate fall out. Parents will bust a gut to keep their child in the full year particularly if it is an exam year. It will be September that the impact on existing parents will be felt. We won't know for sure the reduction in parents that would have chosen private at the state (and corresponding increased cost to tax payers) but will now go state.

On another point, obviously you won't yourself @Letlooseonthedanse feel sorry for these kids given your ruthless stance on this whole policy, but i include this here to save me writing a seperate post as it slightly relevant to your odd post. I feel sorry for kids in Scotland transferring from private where the English school ages are often followed to state where they might find themselves suddenly in exam year depending on where their birthday falls. I do appreciate given the political nature of this policy Bridget Philipson won't care about Scottish kids much either but amazing how she's really getting stuck in to give kids a good kicking.

For those whose children’s needs are met in the state sector - especially those with special needs - I am glad for you. I will watch and wait for improvements to be made in the state sector, especially for those with SEN. I truly hope it happens.

(In the meantime I am busy consoling my 19 year old son that Paddington Bear has lost one of his wellies. Again.)

I don’t think this Government can afford to let any independent schools fail that cater to a lot of children with SEND. I hope they realise that and have put in place a warning system to deal with any fallout from that. If not, they may have just dug their own grave.

The fact the Children's Commissioner is now criticising their new bill shows how much they are fucking education up. They are ripping up anything good based on pure ideology and revenge.
They have already had to amend it once and looks like further challenges are coming. Unions aren't happy with the pay offer and more strikes planned.

No it shows that she’s a Johnson appointee. She’s going to criticise anything this government proposes.

A pity Labour are so cloth eared they won't listen

You were quite clearly trying to trip up the poster in some way by implying she secretly prefers private education as she's chosen it for both her children, not just the one with unmet needs.

Of course you were pointedly accusing me. Just own it. It didn't square with me that SEN is the reason for choosing private education for a child who doesn't have SEN. Surely that is a completely logical question.

I am neither ignorant nor obtuse and find it equally irritating when posters just get caught up in the hyperbole of these threads. I have first hand experience of having a DC with SEN. Of course it is inherently difficult but a VAT policy can't be blamed for everything.

"Of course it is inherently difficult but a VAT policy can't be blamed for everything"
Interesting when Labour blame indy schools for all the inequality in the education system. They can blame indy sector but indy sector isn't allowed to blame VAT policy?

I wasn't addressing you and your post is totally irrelevant to the point I was making.

It didn't square with me that SEN is the reason for choosing private education for a child who doesn't have SEN. Surely that is a completely logical question.

We had no choice but to fund a private school for our elder’s son’s complex needs. We moved 100 miles to do this, to a very specific school. We knew no-one in the new area. Our younger son’s needs could be best met in the new school as well. Our boys were and still are a huge support to one another. They were both educated in the same school until the elder one finally got a place funded by our LA in a specialist independent school. We took both of our children’s needs into account and made the decisions that we felt were best for them. However we never expected to need to consider a private school in the first place until our elder son could not be catered for in a state school.

I hope that squares it for you.

You weren't addressing me? Wow ok so we can now only reply to comments which are personally addressed to us.
Grow up!
And no my post isn't irrelevant

Ok I'll be clearer. I would rather you did not engage with my posts as I find your posts frequently vitriolic, hyperbolic and you often quote things wrongly. I'm totally uninterested in your views.

Likewise. So we agree on something.

FYI to quote another poster: "feels like there's a target on our backs and the hurt it's causing me/my DC is some kind of social retribution. This is why emotions tend to run high on these VAT threads"

The fact you can't understand this is why emotions run high. Maybe if your child was in the same situation you may feel the same. As a parent I would have hopesd anyone would understand but seemingly not.

What part don't you understand about me not wishing to engage with you?

There are significantly more emotion-inducing situations than VAT on school fees. I know this first hand. You don't know me. Don't profess to know what emotions I would understand or not.

In your opinion, other opinions are available
Then stop posting on a thread about VAT on school fees!!

This isn’t Eastenders. You can’t just shout “Get off my thread”. Who do you think you are?

You have no right to tell me where and where not to read or post. If you want perfectly controlled echo chamber conditions, you need set up a closed WhatsApp group.

But you previously tried to tell me I couldn't post a response to you because you weren't addressing me!! So 1 rule for you and another rule for other people?