ISC Daily News Summary

Independent sector leaders are calling on the Labour Party to provide the detail of its independent school tax pledge, amid reports the policy could result in headteachers reclaiming VAT from large buildings and maintenance projects up to 10 years old. Speaking to The Independent, a number of school leaders said they are exploring the legitimate avenues that could exempt them from VAT as they bid to reduce the burden on parents. David Woodgate, chief executive of the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association (ISBA), said: “Schools will be doing everything they can to plan for Labour’s tax on children’s education. Without policy detail, it is difficult for them to do so fully – and impossible to know the full implications for their budgets.” A spokesperson from the Independent Schools Council (ISC) added: “A full impact assessment of the policy is needed, to look at the potential consequences for all schools, but particularly for smaller independent schools who will be hit hardest.” The article also quotes Christine Cunniffe, principal of LVS Ascot, and Helen Pike, master of Magdalen College School, who warned that the tax policy "is going to hit the people who can afford it the least the hardest – the majority of schools don’t have the capacity to absorb the increase”. By Alex Ross. 

Prime minister Rishi Sunak is facing pressure from almost 70 Conservative ministers to give schools a legal duty to publish materials used in sex education lessons. The MPs are supporting a "sex education transparency" Private Members Bill that would force schools to share with parents copies of materials they have used in lessons. The article is accompanied by a live poll asking readers to vote on whether schools should have a legal duty to publish materials used in sex education lessons. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.