To be gleeful that most of us were right

[Wranglestar]

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/adding-vat-to-private-school-fees-has-had-no-obvious-impact-on-state-sector-applications-390546/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2ATdaVlNkJsbtC-KizuW4Fw41obnpvezxnFv4IAFwzJPHXmU90Awr5eqAaem9tMIsn9I0vHSC4jrdYONIA#0rd9makyd4264nstc4us9j77yk5kaoswtLondon Economic

And that private schools has had no impact on state school places. The rich have simply - paid more. Excellent news!

Children with EHCPs are only exempt from VAT if the LA has named the school and is paying the fees.

You don't get an exemption if you are paying the fees and you just happen to also have an EHCP.

Getting an independent school named is incredibly rare.

I remember the whining and griping about this, and the threats. It was all in very poor taste given the fact the the country is on its knees.

So yes, I agree, it's gratifying to see the evidence that the threats were largely empty.

Why?

Labour’s policies aren’t really helping though given they wiped out £9bn so now they’re on to welfare cuts.

Because there's nothing more satisfying than seeing the strawman debunked. There's even a word for that sort of nonsense in healthcare - shroud waving.

And there was so much of it. "The education system will collapse" "There will be state schools unable to cope with the extra pupils".

This is not glee at people who have lost out. It is purely glee at the debunking of the outrageous histrionics about this policy. It was placed up there with Palestine as an issue of great importance.

Here's the thing. Labour are intending to sort out the country. That's the refreshing change.

I'm right wing. But the Tories were incompetent from Day 1. And when their lies fell through they just doubled down on the lie.

Take the NHS. Lansley messed up the system of allocating resources. Financial control was lost, so then performance standards were watered down. They took money out, but kept tinkering with it on a yearly basis until the bureaucracy was a headless chicken.

Take Brexit. Whether you agree or not, they messed it up.

So tbh, the fact that Labour are tightening up the national finances is a source of greater confidence that they are unflinching in their efforts to sort the country out.

The stats on disability speak for themselves. No-one wants to see genuinely severely disabled people disadvantaged. But the boundaries have become very blurred and it needs realigning.

If we had plenty of money, I wouldn't have said private education was a starting point for savings. But we don't. We're a declining country, in a declining part of the world. We've got to be realistic to avoid sinking the whole ship.

I remember those thread, so ridiculous 😂 schools have a far bigger issue with baby boom years and when the small town doubles in size from new house building. And they stil cope.

Hilarious so many on here thought they wouldn't cope with tiny percentage of private school students (only 7% of the population anyway) who would move to state.

I take no "glee" in it nor do I particularly have a big opinion on private education it was just always obvious that those posters were talking shit.

‘Sorting out the country’ is going to be hard when they wipe out £9bn via their policies.

Since there’s no more borrowing or taxes it means cuts, today it’s cuts to welfare. If they keep going with the anti growth agenda they’ll move on to the next group.

There aren’t many left unaffected by taxes or cuts so far.

I agree with all of your points. The hysteria on mumsnet in particular was OTT.

I do not agree with the malicious intent behind the OP.

I don’t agree with this take. If anything the posts on Labour reducing funding due to poor policies have been correct.

Given cuts today.

What a strange thing to be gleeful about? I know at least two desperate SEN parents whose children were suicidal at state schools, who now have to leave their independent schools, gleeful times indeed! This just makes you sound very bitter and jealous.

It’s a sort-of misconception that children with EHCPs are exempt from the VAT rise. It’s not quite that simple. The VAT can be claimed back later, which is probably okay for ordinary independent schools.
However, that also applies to independent SEN schools. There aren’t enough state SEN schools in the country, so independent SEN schools lighten the load. You can’t pay to attend, you still have to get council funding. Which means, and this is completely insane, councils will have a massive cash flow issue this year as they have to pay the fees and claim the VAT back later.

Indeed. My brother was one of those, who wasn't coping at state school due to (late diagnosed) ND. Special schools couldn't meet need either as he was academically able, but coming home cut and bruised every day from being beaten up. My mum worked nights as a HCA to pay for it, as soon as my Dad got home she went out to work, came home,took him to school, slept whilst we were at school, then back up to collect him. This wasn't "rich privilege'. This was survival.

I am not gleeful. I am just not surprised.

Could I just mention Finland? It has the reputation for having the best education system in the world.

Finland outlawed all private education years ago (in the 1970s? I'm ready to stand corrected on this).
Their philosphy of education, their curriculum, their provision and their educational outcomes top the rest of the world.
Just saying.

All that will happen is that those who really want private education will tighten their belts still further. For the rich, it will make no difference.

So, you're happy that that particular sector will be squeezed?

There’s no evidence whatsoever that the number of parents a child lives with contributes to future success. Ffs

Um, I mean I can’t say I’m not not pleased….

@Wranglestar, forgotten simple things like how to spell

@Wranglestar - can I ask why are you pleased?

So, you are pleased. How mean.

I think your post is really tasteless OP. I'm one of many, many parents who downsized, worked silly hours and economised to send my horrifically bullied ( high functioning) autistic child to an independent school. My hope was that smaller class sizes would help him access the curriculum and that he would be safe and happy.

The increase in fees has nearly crushed us. There is no option for us to put him in a state school. The only alternative would be home edding him. I've decided to work Saturdays and Sundays now as well so that we can maintain his stability and education. Go ahead - be smug and gleeful. I'll just hug my boy a bit tighter and continue to protect him.

This has been mentioned so many times and it is untrue. There are still private schools in Finland.

I have school age children and it’s already making a huge difference, mainly with families not going private and buying houses in good catchments instead. Further stretching tight resources and raising house/rental prices so poor families get priced out of good catchment areas isn’t something to be gleeful about, in my view.

As a result of VAT on fees I have made a point of cutting back on other "luxury" spending. I don't stop by for a coffee at the local coffee shop when I'm out and about (my "usual" has just closed down so not just me making this decision), we have a differenf cleaner who charges less than the previous one (and when the children are older the cleaner will be gone entirely), stopped shopping at Costco as I just end up buying unnecessary stuff, don't add that dessert to the shopping basket, don't donate as generously to the just giving requests, haven't bothered with hobby gardening this year, only buying clothes when necessary now, not just because. My plan is to continue this trend and to have a lifestyle refocus - much more mindful spending and appreciating the non essentials a lot more. This isn't because of need per se, but my personal commitment to reducing what I put into the economy so my savings pot is maximised. When my privately educated children go off into the world to do whatever things they want to do, the hope is there will be a sufficient nest egg there for them to assist them in every way possible to do it outside the UK. We will encourage them to leave this country and to live somewhere that rewards and respects hard work and entrepreneurship, somewhere that doesn't consider "ambition" to be a dirty word. They are dual nationals and being brought up bilingual so it should be feasible. The bigger picture is that the UK economy will not benefit from them paying taxes into a society which is full of "gleeful" idiots who sadly have helped drag the UK down to the depths it is now in. The UK is going to really struggle going forward and this attitude exemplifies the reason why - this peculiarly British mindset that is leading us further along the path of irrelevance. I don't think it's jealously but I think it's as a result of centries of a class system that benefits the actual elite. The "lower classes" believing they should stick to their station, you shouldn't get ideas above that, it's shameful or arrogant to try and do better or be more, bow to your masters, but laugh at them behind their back. These people think they are class heroes but the tragedy is they are doing exactly what the elites/super wealthy landowners, royalty / nobility want them to do, keep the rest of us in check with their social judgment. It's so entrenched there's no point fighting it. Just get out if you can, or at least save your children.