VAT on fees 'will cause disruption to children’s education without achieving a positive outcome', warns ISC CEO
Ahead of tomorrow's High Court challenge, chief executive of the ISC Julie Robinson said that the organisation had little choice but to pursue a legal challenge since the "rug had been pulled from under the sector’s feet".
The Telegraph features quotes from Ms Robinson's witness statement ahead of the three-day judicial review hearing that begins in the High Court tomorrow.
Ms Robinson said: "In my view, the government has proceeded with these proposals in haste without fully listening to the views of the independent sector or carrying out a full and proper impact analysis."
She added that there had "effectively only been a few weeks for schools to properly get ready" for the extensive tax changes, despite ministers claiming the sector had ample time to prepare.
Independent schools were led to believe that the policy would come into force in September 2025 at the earliest, according to Ms Robinson, until the chancellor announced last July that it would instead start on the first day of the year. Ms Robinson said "there had been no consultation at all with independent schools before this written statement on July 29", and that "key details of the policy" were not confirmed until the Budget at the end of October 2024, with schools given just six weeks to register for VAT on fees before the Christmas holidays.
"The short window of time means that schools and parents have been forced to scramble," she said. "If the government committed to introducing the policy, it should not have done so in haste following little or no proper engagement with the independent sector."
Ms Robinson said the process by which the tax has been introduced has already caused "unintended consequences" for the education sector, including a lack of state school places in some areas.
"Capacity in the state sector is not evenly spread, and there is a high likelihood of pinch points being created in different parts of the country," she added. "It is the sort of unintended effect that I do not believe has been adequately thought through by the government when designing the policy.
"The policy as designed – and the speed at which it is being implemented – is a blunt instrument that does not fully appreciate the different types of schools and pupils that make up the independent sector."