Greg is dismayed to see that Labour’s short-sighted proposal to put 20% VAT on independent schools’ fees is on the forefront of their agenda again, as demonstrated by Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, Shadow Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, and Sir Keir Starmer at the recent Labour Party Conference.
During the 2019 General Election it was Jeremy Corbyn’s flagship proposal and, currently, it is Labour’s only clear policy. This Labour policy is simply a tax on parents, on aspiration and one Greg is strongly opposed to as it would have a detrimental effect on local families and all of our local schools and children in Chelsea & Fulham, whether state or private.
Data is not collected by constituency, but it is likely that around 50% of children in Chelsea & Fulham are educated in the independent sector and Greg firmly believes Labour’s proposal would have a negative impact on ALL children and schools for a number of reasons.
Tax on parents
Many parents who choose to send their children to private schools work incredibly hard to pay the fees. Their right to make choices over education should not be taken away by Labour. Greg is very concerned about the effect Labour’s 20% tax would have on hard-working families in Chelsea and Fulham.
Effect on state school sector
Due to Labour’s tax, many families would no longer be able to take the decision to send their children to private schools. This means a huge number of children would suddenly be entering into the state education sector, which would cause disruption to local schools, which are already oversubscribed and have incredibly small catchment areas.
The impact on our high-quality local state secondary schools like the London Oratory, Lady Margaret School, Fulham Boys School, the Chelsea Academy and others could be considerable. There is already pressure on admissions to these local schools. If all pupils were to leave the independent sector, this could double school rolls which could be catastrophic on local state schools. Even if only part of the independent pupils were to be displaced, the impact would still be very severe.
This really highlights the short-sightedness of Labour’s proposal; there is no plan for where these displaced pupils would go to school.
The cost of an influx of pupils to state schools has also not been accounted for by Labour. There will be a greater strain on finances available for the state sector, and state school funding per pupil would have to decrease sharply.
Local outreach programmes
Let us not forget that independent schools provide a service to local communities. Not only do they educate a large number of children without relying on local authorities’ funding, but they also offer bursaries for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their community outreach benefits local state schools free of charge.
Thousands of outreach programmes are already in existence which improve education for every child involved. Instead of threatening private schools with closure, we should look at enhancing their partnerships and projects with local maintained schools, to broaden education for all.
Independent schools have so much to offer – Labour needs to start appreciating this. The Conservative Government rigorously opposes proposals to put VAT on independent school fees and made this clear in a debate in the House of Commons on 11 January 2023. In the debate, the Secretary of State for Education said:
‘’This proposal is the politics of envy. It is pulling the rug from under good independent schools in a weakly veiled, politically motivated, economically incoherent policy which will not help our mission to ensure that every child can reach their potential.’’
Greg firmly agrees. There is a clear and present danger from Labour’s proposal for many families in Chelsea & Fulham. Therefore, Greg urges all residents to show their opposition to Labour’s proposed parents tax by signing his petition.