VAT on school fees - High Court Challenge.

[EverythingAllatOnceAllTheTime]

Labour’s plan to impose VAT on private school fees in January faces a High Court legal challenge over claims it breaches human rights law.

Lawyers have written to HM Treasury arguing the policy discriminates against special needs children and has threatened court action if it is not dropped.

Showtime…

@ChoiceChoiceChoice Keir went to a state grammar.

And?

We know some politicians didn't go private but many many did!

The reality is that there is no money and why should the already privileged be given an exemption
Paying for a private place already saves the state money though.

Not paying VAT also adds to the privilege though. Don't pretend people use private for altruistic reasons. 🫣

It's terrifying, all ways around. I honestly believed Labour would do better for SEN, but as you say, be careful what you wish for.

I really don’t think it makes a difference which school they went to. It seems that it’s mostly about whether they’re running the country or not. It must be one of the interview questions.

Interviewer: So you want to be prime minister do you? Hmm. Here’s a question for you. You need to spend 30 billion of tax payers money, and quickly, how do you do it?

Interviewee: That’s easy, I’d create a plan to give more to the NHS.

Interviewer: I’m afraid that’s the wrong answer…

Interviewee: Ohh! No! I mean climate change in Timbuktu!

Interviewer: The jobs yours.

Right, going for a run in between the rain.

In the interim, let us rejoice at news of this legal challenge!

If you banned all indi schools you'd have some very complex needs and mental health, behavioural issues going into mainstream as every single SEN school in my county is full with long waiting lists. If you really want to abolish grammar and independent surely you want the bog standard mainstream stare option? It works in Isle of Mann after all. All the semh kids can go to local state school.

I love it when a stupid government plan doesn’t come into fruition.
Fingers crossed.

Fails to realise the bigger picture..many towns / villages are kept afloat by the presence of a private school, the people they employ, the money the parents/ pupils bring into the nearest high street, the services they use, the money they raise for community causes.
Think bigger.

Everyone who has access to a certain income is privileged - regardless of whether they pay for education or not…but for those individuals who want the government to come after the parents who have their Sen kids in private school because they couldn’t cope in the free government system - are just morally twisted in my opinion. Getting my child an education was not a luxury - it was a necessity. When a society has gotten to the point of thinking an education for Sen kids is a luxury there is no helping you.

There was me thinking it was about children with SEN.

You are privileged in that you can pay for private. Most SEN parents can not.

so what? let's take this option away from those who could?

For someone who purports to be so intelligent do you really need me to tell you why closing them attainment gap benefits society? Really?

Honestly, I couldn't get my head around what that that person was talking about and what planet they live on 🤯 Paying for PS out of DLA can only be trolling or direct insult.

No one is taking it away. Use your DLA to cover the shortfall.
or campaign for an exemption for SEN children. Legal action would be better spent on this.

@Werweisswohin you can’t get beyond the word “private”, can you, despite being corrected?
The point I made is that for some this is not a luxury but a scrimped for necessity, an investment in a generation upon whom our future will rely.
As for luxuries, are you equally as sneering towards those who shop in Harrods and Fortnum and Mason, and stay in Claridges? It’s inverse snobbery.

@ItsAShame2 the legal advice you were given was completely and 100% incorrect.

I have friends who have kids in EHCP funded independent specialists, and state specialists - most, but not all, secured via appeals. My own daughter has an EHCP funded place in a small private mainstream, with classes of only 15 in a green calm setting - she has a 1:1 TA to help her, and OT and SLT as well as play therapy. My son has a complex EOTIS package (most people call it EOTAS, but judges hate that, so I am retraining myself to say EOTIS!).

Our LA is actively trying to place kids in small mainstream independents right now, because the (fantastic - if they weren't for MDL when my kids are able, I'd also be fighting to get them in) state specialists are already so full they're well over PAN. And small mainstream private is cheaper than specialist, state or private alike, so they are really pretty open to that as a path here. It costs less. It can even cost less than mainstream state in some cases, just because they may not need a lot of provisions implemented for that one child, as they're part of the standard offer.

If you want to PM me, I can talk you through the process. If you are unable to access mainstream provision without distress and harm due to unmet need, then an EHCP can and must provide for an education that child can access.

An EHCP only takes years if the parents don't know the legal mechanisms to ensure otherwise, too. Knowledge is absolutely power here. It's slow, but can be forced into a year or 18 months or so if the right steps are taken. And apart from anything else, the assessment reports are so, so valuable in knowing why and how your child struggles, and what needs to happen to help them.

Closing it only benefits society if you level up rather than down.

And this won't close the wealth gap you referred to, it will increase it.

I don't get this argument. If birth rates are falling, state schools will receive less funding, so the end result is the same!

A large private school in Liverpool that previously had separate boys and girls schools is merging and one Co. Ed school.

This means one school site is being sold off. Despite it being a school since 1700. There is a loss of teaching staff, cleaners, cooks etc. which impacts immensely on the local community.

Another school not far is also downsizing.

Hardly positive in an already low income area.

And I'm not really sure how more wealthy kids in the state system is a good thing anyway? How do a nicer house, foreign holidays and a bigger pension for us help the state school system?

You're using too many exclamation marks.
Stop projecting your own snobbery onto other people, please.