ISC Daily News Summary

ISC Daily News Summary 28 January 2025

'Everyone is talking and worrying about the impact of VAT'

Independent sector

iNews explores how the VAT on fees policy has made schools more competitive, with the financial pressures of rising fees prompting wider concerns about the sustainability of smaller, less affluent schools. Speaking to the paper, one mother of two explains how she was able to negotiate lower fees at her children's school through scholarships and private discussions. Describing the impact the tax change has had on her family, she says: "We make so many sacrifices to send our children to private schools, but if I had the choice of living in a bigger house or going on more holidays I’d still choose to pay for my kids’ education. It’s just become a lot more fraught – you almost have to go into an annual planning cycle to work out how to do it. But the schools also want our children, and it feels as if parents have to remember that too. It’s just that the stakes have got much, much higher." By Lucy Denyer.

House of Lords debate: Inheritance tax, national insurance and VAT on fees

Political

Peers discussed the impact of changes to inheritance tax, employers' national insurance contributions and the government's VAT on fees policy during a House of Lords debate yesterday. Lord Morrow (DUP) asked what consideration ministers have given to the national and regional impact of each policy, and highlighted the "disproportionately negative impact" of removing VAT exemptions for independent schools on Northern Ireland, where many families rely on more affordable independent education. He argued that this policy would infringe on parental rights to choose Christian or value-based education, potentially leading to fee increases, disrupted schooling, reduced educational choice, and added pressure on state school waiting lists. Thanking Lord Morrow for raising the question, Lord Kempsell (Conservative) criticised the government's decision to impose VAT on independent school fees as a "nonsensical and ill-formed policy" that has caused unintended consequences nationwide, including school closures and disproportionate impacts on rural and semi-rural areas. He emphasised the negative effects on Armed Forces families, who rely on boarding schools for their children due to operational demands, and urged ministers to assess the policy's regional disparities and its wider consequences.

Lord Weir of Ballyholme (DUP) also argued that the VAT on fees policy is "economically illiterate", citing the negative precedent in Northern Ireland, where a similar policy imposed 15 years ago resulted in the closure of many schools and a 40 per cent decline in prep school enrolment. "For every pound that was saved by the state, £2.30 has had to be spent in additional educational expenditure," he stated.

Continuing, Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (DUP) warned: “Finally, the extension of VAT to private school fees will ensure that many of these establishments will close and children will have their future prospects compromised.” In response, Treasury minister Lord Livermore defended the policy as a means to generate the funds to pay for state school improvements, adding that the policy promotes consistent tax treatment across the UK. He said: "VAT is a reserved tax, and our objective is to maintain consistent VAT treatment of different types of schools across the UK. Therefore, all schools across the nations and regions that meet the definition of a private school, as set out in the Finance Bill, are within scope of this policy. Education is of course a devolved matter, and the circumstances of individual schools will vary across the UK." Hansard. The debate can be viewed in full at BBC iPlayer.

Ministers' school reforms condemned by children’s commissioner

Education policy

Dame Rachel de Souza has condemned Labour’s school reforms and warned they risk ruining the progress made by previous governments. In a letter to MPs, the children's commissioner said she could not support measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill unless significant changes were made: "I am deeply concerned that we are legislating against the things we know work in schools, and that we risk children spending longer in failing schools by slowing down the pace of school improvement." By Poppy Wood, The Telegraph. 

Five strategies helping one trust drive up mainstream SEND inclusion

SEND

In an article for Schools Week, director of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) at Peterborough Keys Academies Trust Jude Macdonald draws on her experience in special schools to share five key strategies for driving transformational change in SEND provision. "What staff need is clear, actionable strategies to get to know their pupils’ needs and how to meet them," she advises.  

Partnerships: 'We work to improve the outcomes of children and young people in our community'

Partnerships

Writing in Tes, headteacher Tom Beveridge shines a light on the South Solihull Partnership, which comprises a total of 11 academy and maintained schools serving pupils from infants to secondary years. Reflecting on the partnership's achievements, Mr Beveridge says: "As a group of headteachers, we believe that place-based partnerships across schools, whatever their denomination, are crucial to improving outcomes for all children, and especially our most vulnerable." Tom Beveridge is headteacher at Alderbrook School.

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