Legacy of VAT on school fees - John McLellan

Clifton Hall School in Newbridge

It has taken only six weeks since taking power for not one but two Scottish private schools to fold, with the closure of the Cedars School in Greenock and Kilgraston Catholic boarding school in Perthshire this week, only days before the start of the new term. Both cite looming VAT as a contributory factor.

Cedars only had 76 pupils, but nearly half had additional support needs, their families attracted by small class sizes, and although St Columba’s school in Kilmacolm is a possible alternative, it’s a local council responsibility to find them suitable places.

The cost to the Scottish Government of accommodating Cedars children could be around £600,000, and if the expected VAT revenue of around £243,000 isn’t forthcoming, that’s a big dent in the amount Labour claimed it would raise.

These schools faced a fight for survival anyway, but sticking up the cost by 20 per cent was hardly going to help.

The Scottish Council of Independent Schools still hopes the VAT introduction can be delayed until September next year to give schools time to prepare, but Labour minsters have shown no signs of a willingness to do so.

Edinburgh’s smallest private schools − Clifton Hall, Steiner and Cargilfield – might be big enough to survive, but will be on a knife-edge as reality sets in.