Independent Schools: VAT and Business Rates Exemptions

Ben Coleman Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Ben Coleman (Chelsea and Fulham) (Lab)]

I am amazed by the Conservative Opposition’s chutzpah when they talk about special educational needs. No one would have thought that they had been in power for the last 14 years and overseen the running down of the system so that it is almost impossible to get an education, health and care plan—these days, 98% of tribunals award plans against councils. We have a system without special educational needs co-ordinators. We have a special educational needs system that, thanks to the legacy of the Conservative Government—14 years of decline— is failing.

I speak as someone who was for 14 years the governor of two special schools near my constituency. I am proud of what the last Labour Government achieved: £1 billion into services for disabled children and young people and their families, and lots of new rights for those people. Under the Conservatives, we have gone backwards, and the situation in the special educational needs sector is dire. As a result, young people cannot get the EHCPs they need.

[Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way on that point?

[Ben Coleman]

Let me make a little bit more progress. Cash-strapped councils are having to send their constituents’ children to private schools because state provision is not available. Parents from my constituency have written to me saying that their only reason for sending a child to a private school to meet their dyslexia, neurodivergence or other needs is not that they are ideologically in favour of doing so, but that they cannot do anything else. The provision is not there locally, and that is because of 14 years of Conservative decline. It is absolutely extraordinary.

[Dr Spencer]

Bearing in mind that around 15% of children in independent schools have special educational needs and only around 5% have an EHCP, given the move back into the state sector that this policy will cause and given the hon. Gentleman’s experience and personal concern about EHCPs, will he be voting against the policy?

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[Ben Coleman]

The one thing I did not hear from the hon. Gentleman was an apology for what his party did to the special educational needs system in this country over 14 years.

We do have a problem as a result of the policy, however. Parents who cannot easily afford to send their children to private schools are digging deep into their pockets, as my constituents in Chelsea and Fulham have written to me. That is the situation we are faced with. Local councils are sending kids to private schools because they cannot do otherwise, and the schools are small and cannot easily absorb the VAT. I am pleased that the Government recognise the particular challenges facing children with additional needs and have agreed to exempt those with EHCPs from VAT. I am pleased that the Government have committed, as the Minister said when discussing SEND in a debate before the recess—

[Mr Amos]

I appreciate the point the hon. Member is trying to make, but given that children simply cannot get an EHCP, how does he expect them to get the support they need?

[Ben Coleman]

I am glad the hon. Member appreciates the point I am trying to make. I will make the point it absolutely clear: because children cannot get an EHCP thanks to the failures of the Conservative Government, local councils and parents who can ill afford it are having to send their kids to private schools. I am concerned that the use of EHCPs as a criterion for VAT exemption is too limited, but I do not think that any Conservative Member here has a right to talk about SEND without first saying, “I am sorry.” I support the suggestion of my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing North (James Murray) that before we go ahead with this policy, we undertake a proper assessment of the impact on the education of children with special educational needs who do not have EHCPs. That is a perfectly reasonable point to make, given the hideous, cruel and inept situation in which the Conservative party has left this country’s special educational needs system.

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[Nigel Huddleston]

My right hon. Friend raises another important point, and I believe some legal challenges are already in place. Regarding timing, is the Minister truly confident that the policy could be implemented within weeks? Is His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs adequately resourced and prepared for it? Is the legislation ready? Is the legislation and guidance sufficiently clear? Even if the answer to all of the above is yes, is it fair on independent schools to expect them to suddenly get their heads around new legislation, register for VAT, implement new systems and processes, and logistically carry out the execution of this policy, all before Christmas? The answer is clearly no. I implore the Minister at least to delay the implementation, and carefully consider some exemptions and special considerations, my fourth category of concerns, which have been raised by many hon. Members today.

The rushed policy appears not to have properly considered carve-outs for pupils from military families, students on the music and dance scheme, children attending small or small faith schools, those paying low fees or who are on bursaries, or children in exam years who may have to move to another school that does not offer their current subject, offers different syllabuses, or has different examination boards. I hope that when we finally see the impact assessment, we will see some consideration of those matters.

My fifth category of concern is what consideration has been given to pupils with special educational needs and those with an EHCP or who are in the process of getting an EHCP.

[Ben Coleman]

Given that the situation confronting the Government is entirely of the previous Government’s making, will the hon. Member apologise for the terrible state of the SEND system?

[Nigel Huddleston]

I applaud the hon. Gentleman for his bravery, given that 2,500 pupils attend independent schools in his constituency. I think they will have a different view from his.

[Ben Coleman]

Will he apologise?

[Dame Caroline Dinenage (in the Chair)]

Order.