Labour’s plans for VAT on Private Schools

[Busydadof2]

The Labour Party has proposed introduction of VAT on private schools.

In the scheme of things the money they will bring in from this is tiny compared with total expenditure on state schools, while it will drive more burden on the state system as some parents leave private schools. I think this is a populist ploy to get traditional Labour voters to vote for what is in any other sense a centrist party.

Have you considered signing this petition to make sure the policy gets scrutinised and the weight of public sentiment against it is known?

Change.org petition: Stop Labour from adding 20% VAT to private school fees and forcing kids to change schools

www.change.org/p/stop-labour-from-adding-20-vat-to-private-school-fees-and-forcing-kids-to-change-schools

Various perspectives from the signatories of this vote come to mind and resonate with our own situation, including this: “I work in a state school with over 30 in a class and oversubscribed. My 2 kids went or go to private schools and we have sacrificed loads to do this. We are NOT wealthy, many of the kids at the school I work at live in bigger houses and have much more disposable income than we do. We chose to send our kids to private school rather than live in a bigger house instead of our semi detached on a main road. We holiday in the UK every year and I work full time. I buy my clothes on the high street or in charity shops. Many parents at the school my kids attend are in exactly the same situation. I agree there are some very wealthy parents there too and the addition of VAT will not even make an impact on them, they will pay it without batting an eyelid. All this will do is push the kids like ours back into an already oversubscribed state system, increase class sizes even more and create a bigger divide as private education will become truly elitist.”

Well let's see - I understand people must be concerned at the prospect of moving their child, but in the absence of much detailed information on how the VAT will be implemented this is all just speculation anyway.

Well it's been enshrined in British law since 1870 and most western countries provide free secondary education under ICESCR, so that won't change under a Labour government. I don't think most people consider that people who pay for private education are doing them any favours.

Labour is showing us very clearly that this will not be a country for those with aspiration and ambition
People who earn a lot of money and pay a lot of tax aren't the only ones who are worth retaining in the country. What about people who have aspirations and ambitions to contribute to society in very fundamental ways by working in completely necessary public services such as fire-fighting, teaching and the NHS? There was a teacher posting yesterday who can't afford private schooling and was given a hard time.

You cannot be pro EU/getting back into the Single Market and at the same time be pro a tax on Education aka private schools.

So anyone on these threads who wants to tax private schools has to by definition by anti EU. Which is a farce. Our only chance for real growth is getting back into the Single Market, keeping our laws aligned and getting the process going as soon as Labour wins their majority.

Education is not tobacco - you can’t tax it as a sort of punishment/forward tax for NHS care. Education is investment into the country’s future.

This tax is a red line for me because I think the far left anti EU lot in his party are using it exactly for that reason. And we should all be against it.

We know the population as a whole is now anti Brexit. The Labour Party needs to do what is right for the country. The biggest f.. you to the Tories is taking us back into a closer relationship with the EU. It is better for our growth and our security. We need to start making the right noises now towards moving back into the Single Market long term. Not some regressive class war fare tax.

Indeed, the entire argument for this stupid tax (to be clear, an argument I reject) is "there's a warm welcome for all of you at state school therefore it's a luxury".

Given there are areas with ZERO places, it's bloody obvious it's not a luxury and, indeed, the state sector totally depends on the private sector doing a chunk of education supply at zero expense to taxpayers.

I think introducing VAT on private school fees is going to end up costing the Government a lot more money than it proposes the policy will make. My two kids are currently at private school. Fees are on the edge of affordability for us and many other parents at our private school. As a result, we've already made "pre-emptive" applications for places for our 2 children in a local excellent state school for a September 2024 start in case Keir Starmer's proposed VAT charge comes in.

I will therefore no longer pay private school fees and therefore would not be contributing VAT to any new scheme; meanwhile I will now be costing the state two extra state school places.. Far worse than even a nil-sum-gain..

Unfortunately I’m not sure we will have a clear picture by this September. Assuming Labour win the election, they’ll only have around 2-3 weeks before summer recess and they won’t be back until the next academic year starts. I’m not sure that 2-3 weeks is enough to pass anything.

The uncertainty is awful for everyone; private and state.

I think this must win the prize for the most nonsensical argument on a thread full of dodgy reasoning!

Given that the UK is not in the EU you can be for the tax while simultaneously wanting to be back in the EU. Heck, you can even be in the EU and still think there should be a tax on private schools while accepting that being in the EU means there won't be.

The country voted for Brexit, and then kept voting for the party that lied and lied and lied again about it as well as plunging millions into poverty. And now Reform - led by the most high profile anti-EU politician in Britain - is doing well in the polls.

I think the VAT isn't a super bright idea, and would much rather see Labour rescind the charitable status of a number of public schools instead. But tbh as has been said repeatedly it doesn't matter so much to most of the population that it would put them off voting Labour - and that isn't to do with envy or spite, it's because it's clear that the majority of the electorate believe that the Tories aren't fit to govern. To most people, the greater good would be served by getting rid of the Tories, and if that means a very small number of families may have to move their children then maybe to the electorate that's a price worth paying in the hope that millions more people will be better off.

Agree - I think we are just going to have to move from private to the state sector before knowing, so tenuous would our financial situation be should VAT be introduced mid-year

You do know that there are only 4210 armed forces children in UK schools?

Your local school is a state boarding one, isn’t it? Because according to MoD figures, none of the private schools have anything like that proportion of MoD kids attending.

So exempting MoD families from tax on boarding school would cost circa £50 million. Chip, chip, chip….

It will be interesting to see how many people will be able to convert an Ed Psych report to an EHCP to qualify for an exemption. I wonder if a friendly local council would help this

Do Labour want to close down private schools, or keep them going and use the VAT to subsidise state? Somebody needs to remind them they can't do both!

Hi everyone,

I have been speaking to numerous people about the VAT increase and wanted to share the following as parents at various schools are becoming much more active with this becoming a very real issue. I thought you would all be interested in hearing this.

In short, the best thing for us to do is to tell all our friends to register their child for their local state school. The reason being that the National Union of Teachers (NUT) are getting worried about not being able to provision children joining state and they will lobby to government. It’s important they start panicking about the flood of applications coming in and the reality of the situation - even if you have no intention of moving your child.

The most likely scenario is that NUT will block it if they start seeing the reality about the number of applications for state school places. Therefore if we can all make a concerted effort to email our councils and enquire about a school place for September 2024 we can hopefully help to make waves with this.

If you are also worried and would like to, please email your relevant council (Hillingdon/Harrow included below but please find your relevant council)
[email protected]
[email protected]

Write something along these lines. (please don’t copy paste word for word but feel free to tweak the below email)

To whom it may concern,

Childs Name + DOB

I’m looking for a place in for my child to start school in September 2024 due to having to remove them from private school if Labour add VAT to fees. Please could you tell me what options I have and where there is availability?

“Given that the UK is not in the EU you can be for the tax while simultaneously wanting to be back in the EU. Heck, you can even be in the EU and still think there should be a tax on private schools while accepting that being in the EU means there won't be.”

No @quantmum - you really cannot have it both ways. Just like people who do not want free movement of people (across the EU) cannot be pro EU. As it is a fundamental principle of the EU.

So those who are pro this absurd tax are by definition anti EU which means that by definition now includes Starmer and Reeves, if they keep going with this VAT on Education.

This VAT on education is so much bigger than you realise. Don’t give in to the propaganda, we will all be worse off.
There are a ton of very high tax payers very angry about Brexit, then Covid, and now the singling out of their children. As they are our cash cows given how this country has been structured and its reliance on them, it is a real big deal and another form of self harm. It is absolutely a completely bonkers thing to introduce given no other country does this.

@quantmum “and would much rather see Labour rescind the charitable status of a number of public schools instead.”

If you know anything about charitable status and the laws, you would not make this type of statement. Your moral opinion on how an entity is constituted is irrelevant.
This incoming Government will have a very tight rope to navigate and we desperately need a responsible Government that re inspires foreign direct investment. Any anomalous policies will be bad for the country.

@Jammos - the teaching unions should already be blocking as many represent private school teachers! And they should make sure that those teachers do not lose their jobs which will be inevitable when private schools close.

More absurdities.
Few people are in complete agreement with every single policy of an entity such as the EU or a political party. That's pretty obvious. I even said I don't think the VAT is a great idea, but it won't put me or millions of others off voting Labour.

There are a ton of very high tax payers
But I thought the ones who will be most affected are the ones who are scrimping and saving? So not the highest tax payers.

how this country has been structured and its reliance on them
The country is reliant on people who are fundamental to society - doctors, nurses, teachers. In the rush to characterise high earners as the saviours of Britain, so many posters seem to be missing that some people are dedicated to public service and improving society in general.

even if you have no intention of moving your child
Are you really encouraging people to tell lies and harass hard working teachers to get your own way? That's disgusting. Private education clearly doesn't inculcate good values if you're actually serious about this.

I'm reporting this post and suggest others do the same - encouraging dishonesty and chaos to the administration of education is really not good.

Before this thread fills up the one point that everyone seems to have forgotten in all the discussion of privilege, class wars, politics of envy etc etc is the impact this will have on a large number of children who through no fault of their own and against their wishes to be removed from their schools and all their friends.

It’s not the teachers who deal with admissions as far as I know.

I don't think people are unsympathetic, and we don't know when or for whom the VAT will kick in so it isn't forgotten, the details are just not known.

Maybe not as a first port of call, but dishonestly encouraging people to apply for a school place through their local council will certainly draw in the school and generate wasted administration hours. The poster also said this strategy was to make members of the NUT panic and win them over. It's bureaucratic terrorism.

@quantmum get back in your box with your sanctimonious nonsense. I already pay taxes for school places that I don't choose to to take up. If I want to waste a bit of council admissions time to try to overturn a manifestly unfair policy then I will do so.