To wonder if Labour really understand the implications of their attack on private schools?

[Bumpitybumper]

I've just found out a private school near me is almost certainly closing. I honestly think this is a disaster for everyone involved. Obviously the direct employees (teachers, caretakers, caterers and cleaners etc) and the suppliers will suffer. The children will now need to find a new school either in the state or private sector. Easier said than done considering many of the good local schools are full so there it isn't like they are applying for a state schools with a full range of options that everyone else has. Most importantly though, I wonder if the government has quite anticipated the type of children that they are disrupting and harming here.

I withdrew my child from this private school because the school was basically acting as a bit of a school that unofficially specialised in SEN and my child doesn't have a SEN so it was a poor fit. Many of the children struggled with behaviour, socialising and needed adaptions to the school day to keep them on an even keel. The school managed this fine as it was small enough to adapt and create an environment that wasn't too stressful for the children. I am seriously worried about what will happen to these kids now. I don't think many of them could cope in a state setting, especially one that is struggling already to deliver a good level of education to the children there. I honestly think these children will either have their own education decimated or they will incredibly disruptive and resource hungry which will impact other kids. I feel really angry on these poor children's behalf. The parents that I know that sent their kids there were doing so as a last resort because they had been failed by the state sector.

AIBU to think that Labour really hasn't thought through who they are impacting with their anti private school policies? They are nowhere near nuanced enough to target the privileged only and inevitably many struggling and SEN kids are going to be hugely detrimented by this.

For some people who work from home and have understanding employers, it may just be cheaper to move across to France for a few years, rent there and pay for them to go to school there? Or in Spain. As there are lots of working from home jobs this may well be what many people end up doing, if they cannot get the right education here at a reasonable price, or for free, for their DCs.
Apparently a lot of the schools in France with boarding facilities have a huge uptick in applications since this VAT was announced. Spain is good value to.

If the kids are messed up completely by direct Government interference, those who can will assess their options elsewhere. They won’t just blindly pay for another private schools, it is just not how stuff works in the real world.

To be fair, they are going for people who do vote for them, too.

They announced this policy a long time ago. They got rid of the Assisted Places scheme in the 90s and would punish private schools and the students more if they could.

The answer is they don’t care about the implications. They want to look like they are standing up for their core ideology and fuck what happens next.

" It isn't like they are applying for a state schools with a full range of options that everyone else has."

Everyone else doesn't have a full range of options.

It’s closing because of the reasons you took your child out so nothing to do with labour.

No, it's not. I've stated previously that the number of students at the school has been steady for years.

Yes, there are all of a sudden a huge number of people who previously didn’t mention SEN but are now desperately concerned about the state provision available for those children. I suspect more than a few are using children with SEN as a convenient vehicle for their dislike of the policy.

They have a hell of a lot more than these kids will have. Many schools are already full so they will only be left with whatever schools still have places available. This is far more limited than a parent applying for a state school following the usual process.

Sounds like the school was too small and niche to survive. Nothing to do with VAT.

This and it’s despicable. Parents deciding their child has SEN does not an SEN child make.

"They have a hell of a lot more than these kids will have."

Some kids, including my own, have no school.

Mine got one in 8 months 18 months ago.

We didn’t spend anything on assessments.

It has survived for several decades and has stable pupil numbers. It isn't particularly small either.

Ditto

I think this is an accurate and refreshingly honest take - politicians have worked out that the British public generally isn’t actually that bothered about people in different circumstances and so we are easily set against each other. people are generally happy to see things they can’t have taken away from others.

This is reflected in the “anyone who earns more than me is rich” approach here but also in the way high earners think about things like the welfare cuts - I don’t actively wish anyone on benefits harm but I’d like to see the cost cut very substantially and I won’t lose a minute’s sleep over the consequences for claimants because they are not me.

The Labour Party understands this dynamic and so it just becomes a numbers game. Most people don’t send their kids to private school and so there is political capital to be gained in taking something away from the people who do. Simple as that.

Vat is added to all fees regardless

The Labour Party understands this dynamic and so it just becomes a numbers game

The Tory party definitely understand this too.

For some people who work from home and have understanding employers, it may just be cheaper to move across to France for a few years, rent there and pay for them to go to school there? Or in Spain. As there are lots of working from home jobs this may well be what many people end up doing, if they cannot get the right education here at a reasonable price, or for free, for their DCs.
Apparently a lot of the schools in France with boarding facilities have a huge uptick in applications since this VAT was announced. Spain is good value to.

As soon as you become resident in France you are liable for French Taxes even renting. Also International schools with boarding cost around the same as paying private fees in the uk.

I’m sure if you read one of the other million threads on this you’d have your questions answered.

but be warned it’s very decisive and no one agrees.

also while you’re reading them look at the definition of “attack”

private schools close all the time. Now these businesses are just being asked to pay VAT on their income as a business like all other businesses - one of the Brexit benefits!

It has survived for several decades and has stable pupil numbers. It isn't particularly small either.

Has the number of dc with SEN increased though? that impacts budgets

If you added a 20% tax onto any business and combined this with a NI increase and increase in business rates charges then plenty of perfectly good businesses would be unable to cope. Look at the impact that Trump's tariffs are threatening and this is a much lower percentage.

Certainly not a supporter of Labour, but they are not opposed to private schools (whereas I am!) - they are opposed to people using loopholes to avoid paying legitmate taxes. I hope they put an equal effort into dealing with all the rest of the tax swindles. Private education is a luxury that only a privileged few can afford. VAT is charged on services - any services - and so imposing it on private educational services is right. You pay VAT on ice cream and crisps - I don't see anyone going to court over that.

How much do you actually know about the school's underlying financial viability? Lots of these small schools have been eating into their cash reserves for years with no long term plan to correct this.

If it is so small that a handful of children leaving because of VAT increases has tipped them into bankruptcy, even if it has brought it forward a year, it was going to happen anyway. They also cannot have had that many leave already unless they gave notice in September last year, just in case VAT was applied from January, considering the term's notice usually required.

Several smaller schools in my area have closed over the last 5 years because they were too small and simply could not compete with the ones with a broader offer.

Those businesses almost certainly already pay VAT! If they aren't, they probably should be so let's hope HMRC find them soon.

But the costs of running a school have drastically increased. If the numbers have remained the same, then it will be the increased running costs that have caused the issue.