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Daily News Summary
31 January 2025

VAT on fees policy bringing 'unintended consequences that come with a cost'
House of Commons written answers: Business rates and VAT on fees in South Suffolk
SEND a key influence on school exclusions and attainment, study finds
Almost half a million fines given to parents for term-time holidays, DfE data shows
'There is a great desire in the education sector for positive change'

VAT on fees policy bringing 'unintended consequences that come with a cost'

 

In an opinion piece in the Daily Express, former Conservative Party political director Iain Carter considers the impact of the tax policies in chancellor Rachel Reeves's first Budget. Noting the closure of three independent schools in a single week earlier this month, which risks increasing pressure on the state sector, Mr Carter says ministers are now facing the reality that some tax rises they believed would appeal to voters during the election campaign may generate far less revenue than expected "whilst also bringing a number of unintended consequences that come with a cost". 

 
Daily Express

House of Commons written answers: Business rates and VAT on fees in South Suffolk

 

In a written question for the Treasury, shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge asked if the chancellor would estimate the revenue expected to be raised from applying business rates to independent schools in South Suffolk constituency in the next financial year. In response, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said: "At Autumn Budget 2024, the government reconfirmed that it is removing private schools’ eligibility for charitable rate relief under business rates in England from April 2025. This intervention will raise around £140 million per year. Business rates retention means that local authorities retain a proportion of all business rates revenue. As such, the increase in rates receipts due to the reduction in charitable rate relief for private schools will be shared between central and local government."

In a subsequent question, Mr Cartlidge asked if an estimate will be made of the total revenue to be raised from applying VAT to independent school fees in South Suffolk constituency in the next financial year. Mr Murray said ministers do not have an estimate of the revenue from this measure specifically from the South Suffolk constituency, before adding: "At the Autumn Budget the Government published a detailed response to the consultation conducted between July and September. Annexed to this is the costing methodology used to calculate the total revenue generated by this policy. Included is a breakdown of the exchequer impact by year, including 2025/26. This was published online and can be found here." Hansard.

 

SEND a key influence on school exclusions and attainment, study finds

 

Poverty and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are the key influences on individual children’s school exclusions and attainment in England, analysis by a multi-ethnic team of academics from Durham and Birmingham universities has found. However, race and equality campaigners have said the research downplays how ethnicity and class intersect to limit educational access and that it overlooks other forms of exclusion affecting disadvantaged groups. By Richard Adams, The Guardian.

 
The Guardian

Almost half a million fines given to parents for term-time holidays, DfE data shows

 

Nearly half a million fines were handed to parents for term-time holidays in one year, according to figures from the Department for Education (DfE), with 443,322 penalty notices issued for unauthorised family holidays in the 2023-24 academic year in England. Holiday-related absences accounted for 91 per cent of the fines issued to parents, marking a 24 per cent rise since 2022-23. The Telegraph. 

 
The Telegraph

'There is a great desire in the education sector for positive change'

 

In an article for Tes, Pepe Di’Iasio highlights the contrast between the urgent support schools are providing to families in need and the government's focus on technical amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Writing "more out of frustration than anger", Mr Di'lasio argues that it is "not too late" for the government to address critical issues such as child poverty and special educational needs and disabilities reform. "I would urge it to make this a priority," he says, before adding: "There is a great desire in the education sector for positive change." Pepe Di’Iasio is general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.

 
Tes

 

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