VAT on private schools is a step too far
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4 min read
The independent sector has become the backstop for neurodivergent, anxious and trauma-experienced children failed by our broken state education system
With education a major driver of inequality, I am firmly committed to a fully comprehensive system in which every child is given equal opportunity to thrive. However, the challenges faced by neurodivergent children and those who are anxious or trauma-experienced must be catered for through diversity of provision.
Labour’s school fees VAT policy sought to bring some restoration against current inequities faced in the state sector. However, recent engagement with independent schools in my constituency has shown me how private schools have become part of the safety net for children struggling, melting and breaking.
At a time when the state sector has been hollowed out, and children used to satisfy league tables rather than nurtured to reach their potential, government should have recognised how the independent sector has become the backstop for a broken system.
York has four independent schools: one traditional, with Guy Fawkes and current MPs among its alumni; two Quaker schools; and a Steiner school. This summer, I met with the school leaders from each, and then parents. I wrote a paper for ministers of my findings.
With its strong ethos of inclusion, the Quaker schools provide an environment where children who have struggled feel safe. Bootham School, founded by the Rowntree dynasty, particularly reaches out to care-experienced children, including through the ‘Springboard’ programme. Each have a significant number of children presenting with SEND; the school works for them.
Then we come to the Steiner school. Around 30 per cent of children have SEND. This unique haven ensures that neurodivergent, anxious or trauma-experienced children find their confidence while learning excels. The school would not be averse to being in the state sector, but maintaining its pedagogy is sacrosanct with a nurturing and therapeutic approach at its core.
The scandal is that its average school fees fall below the allocation per pupil for state-educated children, and for those from less well-off families the fee is £3,090 a year.
This is not parental choice but necessity
When I heard of parents remortgaging their homes and working three minimum-wage jobs to access an environment in which their child could engage, placing VAT on fees was a step too far. The parents are stressed. They can’t afford the fees uplift. There are no suitable alternatives. This is not parental choice but necessity.
Without this provision, children would be out of school. Already too many are. Something must give. Parents of SEND and anxious young people are already at their wits’ end, fighting every moment for their child. Now they feel unheard again by the state which has failed to grasp their situation.
The Tory elitist approach to education screened these children out. Now they are being costed out. Antediluvian disciplinary processes of isolation and sanction have particularly punished children who are neurodivergent or anxious. The poor mental health of young people is off the scale. So, when parents seek to keep their children safe, they should not be charged extra for doing so.
Children have been failed. Parents have paid the cost, now a fifth more. This is not right. I set out the case to the three ministers I met.
The pedagogy means many of these children don’t need an education, health and care plan either, and instead benefit from the whole-school approach. Sadly, there are too many young people who cannot access this care and are struggling at home without the fundamental safeguards and opportunities the right setting can provide.
The Education Secretary recognises how broken SEND provision is and how anxious young people are. Now she needs to rebuild an inclusive education system that every child can access. It is why phasing the VAT policy was essential.
The testimonies of these children proved the point. Their lives transformed because of the inclusive, therapeutic and nurturing approach. Now under threat, the Chancellor must provide some relief while and until Labour has rebuilt the education system with the diversity of provision for all.
Rachael Maskell is Labour MP for York Central
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