Labour have no answers on private school VAT

VAT will be added to the fees of private schools such as Fettes in EdinburghVAT will be added to the fees of private schools such as Fettes in Edinburgh
VAT will be added to the fees of private schools such as Fettes in Edinburgh
It didn’t take long for the new UK Labour Government’s politics of envy to come to the fore following the party’s victory in the recent General Election.

Summer was still in its infancy when Chancellor Rachel Reeves, confirmed plans to remove VAT exemption for private schools in the Budget. What has been clear since the Budget is that Labour and SNP ministers have no idea how the policy will impact in Edinburgh, because the situation in the Capital is like nowhere else. Edinburgh has one of the highest concentrations of independent school educated pupils in the country – sitting at around 21 per cent.

My office has received significant numbers of emails and phone calls from concerned parents of pupils at Edinburgh’s schools. Parents – and our young people – are rightly concerned about the impact on their education with the potential for children being forced to move schools, some in the middle of exam cycles, while parents desperately look for alternative arrangements.

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It is often overlooked but many families choose the independent school sector to seek additional support needs for their children or military families seeking continuity in their children’s education.

Whilst the policy will likely see middle class families unable to absorb the extra costs which schools will be forced to pass on, it won’t be the very wealthy who will suffer. Instead, Labour have ensured that private schools become the preserve of the very wealthy and are forced to focus on income streams from international pupils.

This policy from the new UK Labour government – far from levelling the playing field – threatens to exacerbate socio-economic segregation between schools and will ensure that independent schools become more elitist than they are currently accused of being. Why would schools continue to share facilities with other local schools or provide scholarships in the future when Labour ministers have targeted them in this way and placed them in this financial situation?

I have been seeking answers from Edinburgh City Council and SNP ministers on what potential additional school places will be needed and will be available in the council school estate in the Capital. Answers have not been forthcoming and it is clear that very little planning has actually taken place. What will be the impact on class sizes? What Additional Support Needs staff will be recruited to help support children at the very time councils have been forced to cut these positions in recent years?

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For many parents seeking answers the question is where will pupils living in different parts of the Capital be educated if they leave the independent sector, and where are these places available in schools across the Capital and beyond?

I believe that this policy is ill-considered. This Labour Government and unpopular prime minister have demonstrated they are not willing to listen. The education of our young people and the impact the policy will specifically have here in Edinburgh is currently being ignored – that won’t continue when parents, pupils and teachers face the reality in the coming months.

Miles Briggs is a Conservative MSP for Lothian

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