ISC Daily News Summary

Councils are spending £2 billion each year to send pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to independent schools amid the government's VAT on fees policy, MPs have revealed. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found spending has increased by 46 per cent in four years, with councils having to fund places at independent schools for children with SEND because of a lack of "capacity" in the state sector. The PAC's report also warned that many young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) are not able to be accommodated in state schools. Speaking to the Daily Mail, a spokesman for the campaign group Education Not Taxation said: "The PAC’s findings show how much the government relies on independent schools to serve the most vulnerable children, which calls into question yet again Labour’s divisive rhetoric and ill-judged attack on these schools." By Eleanor Harding.

Writing in Independent School Management Plus, head of Bolton School Philip Britton says ministers must assess whether the VAT on fees policy is having the intended impact on local state schools, adding that "we must hold the government to account on this". On how the assessment should be carried out, he explains: "I strongly believe this must be done locally and that every MP should monitor impact in their own area. State schools and independent schools should work together to make sure there is the intended gain arising from the obvious detriment." Praising the Independent Schools Council (ISC) and HMC (The Heads' Conference) for bringing "a sharp focus to the human side of the policy", Mr Britton also expresses concern about the policy's impact on bursary provision at his school, saying: "By the end of this government, around 150 additional pupils who could have received a bursary at our school will miss out."