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Daily News Summary
8 October 2024

VAT policy will have 'adverse consequences', warns shadow education secretary
Letters: Delaying VAT on fees
NASUWT leader Dr Patrick Roach to stand down in 2025
SEND funding claims in English schools 'increasingly being refused', say experts
State school pupils struggle to read long books, claims Oxford professor

VAT policy will have 'adverse consequences', warns shadow education secretary

 

In an interview with Kay Burley on Sky News, shadow education secretary Damian Hinds referenced the Opposition Day Debate that will take place in the House of Commons today over the government's plans to tax independent school fees. Mr Hinds highlighted the VAT policy's "adverse consequences", which include impacting the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the families of military personnel, pupils at faith schools, and those at state schools. Calling on ministers to "pause this programme" and stop the "crazy, headlong rush" to implement it in January, Mr Hinds said his party will continue to hold the government to account and "that is what today's opposition debate is all about". 

Parents of children with SEND have spoken to iNews about the “heart-breaking” impact of independent school closures. Maggie, a parent whose children had attended Cedars School, which closed last month, told the paper it had been an “intensely stressful, worrying time” for the family. Describing the impact of the closure on her autistic son, who also has ADHD and issues with anxiety, she said: “For a while he just couldn’t cope with it. He said everything had been ripped away from him." By Adam Forrest.

Writing in The Telegraph, assistant comment editor Sherelle Jacobs questions Labour's VAT plan, saying "evidence the policy is a dud is emerging with almost daily regularity". Ms Jacobs claims education secretary Bridget Phillipson is failing to see that by imposing VAT on independent school fees, "everyone ultimately loses... [including] those with SEND, or from military families".

 

Letters: Delaying VAT on fees

 

In a letter to The Telegraph, Richard Pallister from Suffolk says that calls to delay or cancel VAT on independent school fees are based on numerous well-documented concerns, including unworkable time frames and unanswered questions. "This policy requires more analysis, scrutiny and time - as well as an education secretary who wants to work with the sector rather than destroy it", Mr Pallister concludes.

The paper also features a letter from David Bartholomew from Oxfordshire, who claims Labour's motive for its tax policy is driven by "class envy", asking: "What is the justification for taxing one form of education but not another?"

The letters appear halfway down the page.

 
The Telegraph

NASUWT leader Dr Patrick Roach to stand down in 2025

 

Dr Patrick Roach, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, has announced he will step down from the role next year after his first term comes to an end. Dr Roach, who served as the union's deputy general secretary for a decade before taking over as leader in 2020, said yesterday the election of a new government will give his successor the opportunity to “make their mark”. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week. 

 
Schools Week

SEND funding claims in English schools 'increasingly being refused', say experts

 

Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in mainstream schools are increasingly being refused additional funding from councils in England unless they have legal documents supporting their claims, experts have said. The Guardian reports that parents and carers in Buckinghamshire have been told that the local authority will no longer accept applications from schools to pay for SEND provision unless it involves pupils with an approved education, health and care plan (EHCP). By Richard Adams.

 
The Guardian

State school pupils struggle to read long books, claims Oxford professor

 

Professor of English at Oxford University Sir Jonathan Bate has suggested that some state-educated students struggle to read long novels because of a focus on "crowd control" in disadvantaged schools. He claims that literature students at university now struggle to finish one book in three weeks, when they had previously been able to read three in just one week. By Alex Barton, The Telegraph.

 
The Telegraph

 

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