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?

Good point

I daren't get my hopes up to be perfectly honest, too much at stake for so many kids especially those with SEN but we are also starting to see the impact on state schools too

The I paper have reported today that she’s up for being shuffled out in spring 🙏🏻

I absolutely hope so. I'll join you in that

Now the headline VAT is a tariff from US

Maybe we'll get rid of the lot

They absolutely do need to replace her. Shocking lack of stakeholder engagement across the board (leaving VAT aside - that's minor compared to what else she's doing to education). She comes across as completely unqualified and inexperienced, possibly overpromoted, yet bafflingly arrogant about it all. She won't take meetings because she doesn't know how to conduct them, or deal with competing, complex priorities.

Dare we hope we get a new Ed Sec soon who might actually have years of service in the sector and mature, evidence based policy making?

They probably don't know the effects yet.

We do know the effect. We are seeing it play out. Only Labour refuse to acknowledge it

Schools pulling out of "free" breakfast clubs cos funding = 60p per head

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/we-cant-run-at-a-loss-heads-snub-flagship-breakfast-clubs/

Well VAT is now impacting the whole country! So everyone is paying for it, couldn't make it up!

I don't think pro VAT will register it. The policy has to happen even if it has worse outcomes for everyone. Madness

Judging by the comments on a FB post about this I read this morning, there's still a general impression that Tabitha and Tarquin are beneath contempt and mummy can just sell an extra Porsche. Doesn't help that the BBC used an image of kids in straw boater hats ...nothing like perpetuating an inaccurate stereotype

The introduction of VAT has had a one-off impact on inflation.

But inflation has longer term impact on interest rates etc. These things don't happen in isolation

I'm not sure you are grasping that inflation is based on % change not absolute, so the impact is only once. In these latest figures, vat on school fees has been a contributing factor along with others but we have not seen any huge spikes. It is not of any real significance on its own in this respect.

Yet it impacts interest rates etc. BoE announced unlikeky to now cut rates on back of this rise. So yes this impacts most people

It is one contributing one-off factor. As I said.

For one month. It’s beyond me why private school fees which affect a miniscule proportion of the population are even included in measuring inflation.

Ah well the number impacted are either so small they shouldn't affect anything OR a significantly larger % of people are being impacted than Labour believed/accepted would be. Maybe it's the fact that the people being disproportionately impacted are those on the lower end of salary spectrum and the numbers being impacted are higher?

All of which was entirely predicted and predictable.

It suggests much fewer have upped sticks than has been anticipated (catastrophised) as they have mostly just paid the VAT. If lots had left, there would have been less of an impact.

You really don’t understand how this stuff works, do you? If one person is affected by an element of the basket of goods and services used to calculate inflation it impacts the overall number. A service that affects less than 7% of parents of school age children shouldn’t be included because it has a disproportionate effect. Anyway its effect will be gone next month.

I think it is you that perhaps doesn’t understand how the calculations are carried out. They used weighted measures to include a wide range of activities rather than just considering the average person.

Currently it includes the cost of purchasing caravans, acoustic guitars, boats, horse racing tickets, climbing wall sessions etc. I’m pretty sure fewer than 7% of people purchase most of those.

School fees along with Uni fees has been on the list for years and will continue to remain there for many years to come.

I'm glad it's not just me getting irritated with this. It only happens with female MPs and not the males

Incorrect. Most people refer to Keir by his last name. It's pretty common eg Sunak etc.

Then why not refer to them by their last name like the men?It's all this "Rachel from customer service" and "Bridget from accounts" rubbish that is so annoying and misogynistic. It discredits anything a poster says for me when they use these horrific labels.

The Rachel From Accounts was because of arguable issues with over-promotion on their professional CV with regards to their expertise as a serious and longstanding senior economist at the Bank of England , rather than someone who worked in Accounts/Customer Services at a bank. Whether you say Reeves from the Accounting Department or Rachel is surely neither here nor there. Not that I would use the phrase.

Many people voted for Labour because they were utterly fed up with the Tories, but also, primarily because Starmer promised economic growth above all else and the “grown-ups” being in charged. So people wanted to believe that the Chancellor is a very experienced Senior Economist with years of experience at the BOE.
The first budget has proven to be ill-timed and it has not had a positive impact on economic growth.

I can fully respect people who say they believe in taxing private school fees with VAT as a deterrent, on ideological grounds. However, we were promised economic growth. And I do not believe the electorate voted for policies that would have the opposite effect. So if someone in favour of this VAT could please explain the positive effect on economic growth (that was promised), I am all ears. I really really cannot see it. I think it is a deterrent not just for those already in the private education sector, but for people coming to the UK in the first place or staying here long term. It has to be viewed in conjunction with the inheritance tax changes, NI etc - it is all part of a picture of a Left anti growth Government, when we need the opposite right now. That is why some of us who see economics first, have an issue with it. Not to mention the harm on school children, which is just really quite cruel.