To have though of a fairer way to fund state education than VAT on private?

[wlakaaf]

State schools are in desperate need of funding.

Money needs raising.

Instead of sticking 20% onto private fees - when those people are already paying 100% of the costs for educating their child, how about this:

Parents of children currently in state schools ought to contribute to their education on a means tested basis. There would be no argument over means, it would be a simple reference to the council tax band of the house you live in. We have bands A-H. I would propose that people in band A-F pay nothing. People in band G pay a fixed charge per year and people in band H pay a higher fixed charge per year.

Keir Starmer has used money to buy a massively expensive house, worth in the region of £2m, in the very tight catchment of a lovely state primary. This is buying privilege, same as buying private education. So why does he get away without paying?

Love how people think because you're a certain band Council Tax you are rich. My council tax is over £3k a year. I'm certainly not rich.

All this!

I know it’s derailing it it really fucks me off that indies can sit the IGCSE (my 100% core subject still has coursework in the IGCSE) but state schools can’t (well they can but it won’t count in tables. Another layer of privilege right there.

Of course it's fake 😂😂😂

Oh come on how can any private school be a charity!

Even with VAT policy they are still going to be charities (their charitable status isn’t changing).

Just because it is wheelchair accessible? Mine's a B and only a decade or so old.

Aware of that, absolutely didn’t make it right.

Quite right.

You've not been paying 100% fees, you are now going to be paying 100% fees if this is enacted.
The fees currently paid are subsidised because they are VAT free.

This!!! I am sick and tired of privately educating parents on MN trashing state education and saying it’s not good enough for their children to justify not paying VAT. That the sector is shit. It isn’t and is doing a fantastic job in dire circumstances brought on by Tory governments.

I hope labour tackles some of this with other measures too and also starts to sort the inequalities in uni admisssons.

Children who went to private school are five times as likely to end up in influential jobs than kids from state schools. You are not just buying them an education, but contacts and a path through life that is stacked in their favour. Private school kids dominate top jobs and positions of power and you want us to think of their education as a charity and help subsidise that....Er, no.

@S33dHead but this policy isn’t going to help any of the current issues in state schools. Why aren’t voters talking about what is going to happen to state school funding etc, why is Labour and everyone else fixating on this policy. It’s going to do nothing to help state schools and nothing to stop inequalities

By whom?

Why do bands A to F pay nothing?
We are band F and our house is worth nearly 1 million (we bought it for about 600,000, after doing up and making money on 2 successive doer uppers, no handouts just hard work) We are both nhs professionals (nurse and physio), apparently 'poorly paid needing food banks' if propaganda is to be believed.

We are committed to our daughters state school as are most parents from a wide range of economic backgrounds. And that is what makes a school thrive - a commitment by families to support it - some support with donations to PTA, some with their time. It's not particularly well off, with 20 children per class due to that being the number of children in the village and schools being paid per child. But the outcomes it acheives both academically and emotionally/socially are fantastic. You cannot buy these through throwing money at a school.

Stopping the VAT subsidy on private schools IS doing something about inequality though.

@wlakaaf

As you appear to have a bee in your bonnet about Keir Starmer and where he lives - out of curiosity, being London born, representing a London constituency, and prior to that having a London based job, where do you expect him to live ?
Would you be happier if he lived somewhere 'up North' with some ferrets in the back garden.
Not that I know him personally but as far as I'm aware he doesn't have other jobs outside of being an MP so won't have spare hundreds of thousands of pounds.

It’s a start( as they’ve said) and hopefully one of many. Tories have had 14 years and not made a start or even voiced concern.

@mileenderr it’s not going to impact schools like Eton. Smaller private schools may go to the wall putting a number of people out of work. Parents from those schools will pay for tutors etc. And the policy is not targeting the issues in state schools.

I would also add to that - where do you expect him to send his kids to school? You have a problem with him choosing state primary on his doorstep.

Sorting issues out in state schools should be much higher priority.

Parents in these schools are already paying for tutors. I have a friend who is a tutor and her biggest clientele are privately educated students.

Small private schools are also inaccessible to the majority of people - it's not just schools like Eton which perpetuate inequality. And nobody is saying VAT is a silver bullet which will solve all the issues with schools, but it's a step in the right direction.
And at the end of the day, there are the same amount of children which need educating, so not sure it will have a massive impact on the number of jobs in the sector overall.

Hmm. I think I would prefer that private schools pay tax like other businesses thanks. If private school parents think that is unfair they can send their kids to state schools. Birthrate is falling. We would be happy to have them. It would also help wealthy people to have more interest in education in the state sector which is a good thing.

They will be. It’s a “start” and they quite rightly are focusing on the economy and other issues alongside first. Slow and cautious is fine by me.I for one am sick to death of Tory chaos,lies and ridiculous promises. Still waiting for the EU money to be flooding the NHS, boats to have been stopped….

Yup. I appealed against the banding (as it was new) when I moved in as there was no way on earth that a HA flatpack with a footprint smaller than my best mate's double garage would have sold for over three times the value of a five bedroom Victorian villa with driveway/large garden/etc. But they rejected it - I pay £350 a month CT whilst the houseowners opposite pay £175.