The councils need to find spaces for all children!!

[HooverIsAlwaysBroken]

https://bmmagazine.co.uk/news/surrey-runs-out-of-state-school-places-for-private-pupils-as-vat-raid-bites/?amp

I am relieved to see that the Surrey is also looking at options to expand class sizes and use transportation to take children to other areas. They really need to get their act together quickly.

all children has a right to state education.

The farce here isn't that parents were sending kids to private school and then Labour fucked that up.

It's that these councils have both a lack of spaces and a lack of decent schools and think they've been hard done by because they can no longer afford to bail the council out of this situation.

They've been paying for school spaces that should have been free. And they feel good because they were being fleeced for this privilege.

Why have fees gone up already when schools will get a big recovery this year? Pretty tight not to share the bounty.

Yes it did, VAT on school fees! A Labour policy which incidentally makes the UK the first country in Europe to tax education and goes against the agreed principle of zero rating ALL education for kids

Well we left the EU which was the will of the country to be able to make our own rules.

This is why they can and have done it.

Er because fees pay teacher wages + pensions + rising utility bills + increase in NI and business rates.
Most indy schools run on tight margins with only 1 term surplus. But hey don't let lack of knowledge hold you back!

Except we are still signatories to ECHR which is why there are 4 legal challenges. 1 led by Lord Pannick who wad the barrister who previously advised Labour not to go ahead with this policy

State school places aren't free, they are paid for by tax payer

They're getting millions this year in vat refunds... Enjoy your indignance tantrum, tho!

No they aren't! Only the large wealthy schools are as they are the ones which could afford huge capital spends!
The likes of Eton only make up 1% of all indy schools.
Your prejudice is loud and clear

I can see why they want to keep it quiet.. I assume you work for one.

I think it's funny that private school parents genuinely expect other people to sympathise. By all means back yourself but don't expect me to be sad that you can't afford your diamond shoes any more.

You assume wrong.
You are using factually incorrect information and resorting to insults is never a good look

Ok. I'm sorry for your terrible suffering truly the until recently incarcerated of Sednaya prison must weep to hear of it.

Most private parents can still afford the ‘diamond shoes’. For most, it won’t make any difference at all; one less holiday a year at worst.

This policy will make squat all improvement to a single state school. But enjoy your glee for now.

Personally, I’ll find the cash for private now more than ever; the next few years at state schools are going to be even more horrendous than they are now, thanks to this policy.

What has that got to do with this topic?
That's a pretty big stretch of whataboutery.

@HealthRobinsonCrusoe DD is in a school group, the senior school is 850 students with about 650 staff members. One of the biggest employers in the area. The NI increase alone is going to massive, luckily our fees are only having a slight increase for the mean time because there are lots of capital works.

Other small, local schools have announced closure already. Our DC’s are in the pre prep, a lot of parents are already looking at moving into the grammar catchment despite it being a number of years off. The pre prep offers intensive preparation for the 11+ if required. They are just redirecting their spending power in a way that will disadvantage poorer children in the area.

What great guys they sound. Maybe their kids will learn better that we're all part of one society?

Yes of course they did lol

Councils have always been able to pay to send SEND children for private provision.

they are not paying to send "normal" children to a private school.

That’s rude; just because you and yours are fine doesn’t mean others will be. People pick to send their children privately for many reasons-not just because they are posh and loaded. It’s might be that all their local schools are shit. Or they need better provision for SEND, a smaller class size for ASD or just a better fit. Some it is simply because they work long hours and need the elongated wrap around care. Many scrape and save. FYI-no skin in the game as all my children are in a good state school, which we are lucky enough to be catchment for. However, they are full.

Even I can see that an influx of children, which has had no warning or planning with the state schools as to where the children will all go, is not going to work. All the schools near me are full to capacity; and a bit more on top. Any child needing a place now would have to travel quite a distance to the next school. There is going to be nothing calm about it. I suspect you also won’t be quite so calm yourself when your child is in a class of 45 struggling to learn and is sharing a laptop between four . Plus census day has already happened, so state schools won’t even get the funding for all these extra children! It was a shit plan and will cost more than it will raise in taxes.

@HealthRobinsonCrusoe I’m curious to find out why you think children attending independent schools aren’t part of society? DC’s friends at school are the children of normal people - firefighters, doctors, soldiers, lawyers, teachers, civil servants. I’m the child of working class, teenage parents who aspired to a better future for my children. My DC are normal children, we have just prioritised providing them the best education we can.

Surrey was always going to have issues. With 20% of kids in private, and state schools full, the potential for a shit show was always there. The council never had to plan places for those kids, now they do.

Even if you support the concept, you have to agree that it should have been implemented gradually to ensure the generation bulge had worked its way through the system.

Idiotically stupid policy. Labour always say "only a few affected" to get away with idiotic policies (see farmers, employer NI on nursing homes and hospices, the freezing/reducing of tax bands - stamp duty for first time buyers etc). What they failed to realise is that the "few" might actually be in concentrated pockets, not spread equally across all areas. Hence the Surrey problem

And no I am not someone who will be paying the VAT. I'm just someone who can add up and think consequences through.

Stupid policy. Stupid results. Let's not forget the 5 million they're going to have to pay out to Eton. Education was in crisis. Now it's in a bigger crisis. Well done Labour.

Living in Surrey I was quite surprised to read that 20% of children are in private schools. Clearly I move in the wrong circles!

Because every Labour government I have lived under does SPITEFUL things rather than what is for the good of the country and I am SICK of it!!! I was even stupid enough to vote for them when younger.

I should think you move in just the right circles if you have access to a good state school.

There are approximately 6000 secondary school children in my area who've had either no access or limited access to a school building since July 2023 due to RAAC or asbestos.

My child has spent all of her GCSE years in a portacabin with no resources and is expected to compete against students who have had no disruption to their learning.

Parents with children in private schools have been sheltered from the reality of the state school system. So I appreciate what a shock it must be to realise that you can't choose which school your child goes to but this is the reality we're all facing in the state sector.

I don't know what the answer to the mess of the education system is but I do think it's fair to charge VAT on private education to get some much needed funding into the state sector. For all the children being pulled out of private school, I'm sure there'll be plenty more to take their place.

1 - Many taxes are phased in. This will blow your mind: Landfill tax phased in over 12 years! The government can phase taxes in as they see fit; I have no idea why you think they cannot. To put VAT on school fees within the academic year is simply SPITEFUL.

2 - Nobody said capitalising words makes them true, I have no idea why you would even think that. Capitalisation is usually used for emphasis.

Honestly please think before you write utter rubbish.