Staff Redundancies as a result of VAT on schools

[BarleyMcGrew]

Can anyone tell me if schools are starting to make redundancies as a result of VAT? As in, actually cutting staff?

I know of two schools that have run this process supposedly because of VAT but they actually just ended up hiring everyone back but on less good terms.and conditions. Everyone kept a job, even if it wasn’t on as good pay/hours as before.

Round here i know of 1 school shutting and 2 with compulsory redundancies. That is only from folk i have previously worked with so suspect the issue may be much bigger.

Yes. Schools closing and/redundancies.
Predicted and predictable

Can I ask which academic department had cuts @JaffavsCookie Or was it trimming every department?

I was a governor when our now teens were at primary school. We had to make redundancies due to insufficient budget. All schools need to balance the books one way or another. Staffing and building costs are usually two of the biggest so unfortunately need looking at.

I’ve heard of some schools cutting modern languages and classics.

Ours has already cut out alot of the peripatetic staff- music staff and ad hoc staff for languages in particular. It's a very small school- only 500 students and in a very rural area and the school is by far the biggest local employer in the area. Grounds staff have also been cut and support staff such as TAs and dining room staff.

Voluntary redundancies in one and mandatory in another. Drama, outdoor education, plus excess in core subjects eg English

I am hoping that the departments I am interested in stay fairly stable. Quite a lot of the staff have their own DC at the school (on staff discount I guess) so I imagine those people will be the last to be looked at for redundancies.

There’s a lot of it about in state schools too. Everyone is tightening their belts.

Well that's not how redundancy laws work, and surely the places that aren't being fully paid are part of the issues with costs so can't see the logic in those teachers having any protections over and above anyone else?

Well I think the staff have to pay some fees so would be logical that the school would see that as a benefit of keeping that member of staff.

We have been through this. Nothing to do with staff discounts. Those made redundant kept their discount, whether voluntary or compulsory. It has depended on staffing in each individual subject. All were, in the end, voluntary - often staff a year or so away from retirement. It has been brutal on teachers and in those forced to make decisions.

@Cismyfatarse this is what I have heard - that for all there is a process, ultimately it is unlikely that staff that have been at the school and want to remain at the school will lose their roles. Although they might have a change to hours/contract.

Schools in the state sector also have to cut costs, most didn’t have these extras anyway and they are cut to the bone thanks to austerity since 2010.

Do you know what @minnienonothat may be true. But I am sure you, and others, are capable of having sympathy for my colleagues being made redundant, just as I have sympathy when this happens elsewhere, in other industries. We are also losing our pensions, shutting buildings (and schools) and seeing children torn away from their friends. It is fucking brutal for children, teachers and parents. Even if you see private schools as businesses, surely a government deliberately setting out to damage successful businesses warrants more thought. Unions are supporting us because what is being done to our jobs is unconscionable.

And the myth of the state school just waiting with open arms to take on a 57 year old teacher is just that, a myth. We are old, expensive and - even for the party that claims to care about jobs and welfare - dispensable.

12 full time jobs at my school. Only one with a chance to work elsewhere so far.

Friend was made redundant- senior school geography. They did a ‘last in first out’ process across a number of departments, due to falling numbers of pupils caused by VAT.

DH teaches at a school which is going through a voluntary redundancy process in the prep school. Senior school is ok so far, but they have pulled out of TPS due to VAT.

Senior school has pulled out of TPS and is making voluntary redundancies. Hugely sad.

I thought ‘last in, first out’ was illegal.

Sorry about your colleagues @Cismyfatarse - it is brutal and horrible for everyone involved whenever there are redundancies. Lots of schools will be getting rid of roles they will now never rehire for even if finances improve.

I think it’s NI increases as much as VAT tbh - direct impact on payroll costs.

You are correct plus business rate rise. It's the triple whammy that's created this. Government policy introduced specifically to undermine independent sector. Kids + teachers are acceptable collateral damage for ideology

Yes losing some work benefits and redundancies happening 😔

Yes at my school two admin staff have been made redundant and teachers who were new last year had not been given permanent contracts and they have been told there won’t be a job for them in September, whereas ordinarily I’m sure they’d have been kept on. I think there will be more to come as numbers are down.

Redundancies are happening at my state school, plus quite a few others I speak to-all down to NI rises, unfunded pay rises and falling rolls. Staffing is the biggest cost in schools but we are going to be absolutely cut to the bone :(

Education eh? Most state schools I know have had redundancies due to lack of funds, if not all of them. It's been so bad. I don't actually know of any private schools round here that have made any cuts other than natural wastage.

I guess private schools might need to just have bigger classes. And maybe be a bit more honest about the fact that they also gain as well as lose through the changed tax status.

I expect pulling out of TPS will mean there are people happy to take VR. I wouldn't work in a school without it.