VAT: Independent Schools

Daniel Francis Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Lab)]

For the record, my wife is a special educational needs co-ordinator in a local authority school and one of our children is in receipt of an EHCP.

I have heard accounts from parents and seen at first hand the decisions local state schools have had to make to cut their budgets. Teachers and staff have to subsidise classroom equipment, make cuts to the curriculum and mix year groups to reduce teacher numbers, which has an impact on children educated in the state sector in my constituency. Conservative Members would do better to spend their time understanding the real issues on the frontline and the impact that their decisions, made over the past 14 years, have had on my constituents in Bexleyheath and Crayford.

The Ofsted area SEND inspection of the Bexley local area partnership last December found

“widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)”.

The report concluded:

“Overall, the voices of children and young people are not heard well in Bexley.”

The task of fixing that lies with the Bexley local area SEND inspection partnership and a range of partners, including our schools.

At the same time, because of the pressures in our schools, Bexley’s Conservative-controlled council found that the only way to stave off bankruptcy, due to its significant high needs block overspend, was to agree a safety valve agreement with the previous Government. A report to Bexley schools forum last week outlined that

“it will undoubtedly be very challenging to succeed in both delivering the mitigations already envisaged in the Safety Valve agreement (the impact of which is assumed to accelerate in 2025/26) and also in identifying further realistic cost reductions to deal with the current level of overspend.”

It said that the deficit at the end of this financial year is

“expected to exceed the safety valve assumptions by £1.798m.”

While this unholy mess has been unravelling, impacting the most vulnerable children in my constituency, I was shocked to see a return published in the Electoral Commission register. An independent school in my neighbouring constituency, but within my local authority area, made a financial donation to a local Conservative association. I am afraid that that sums up the sorry state of where we are. While Conservative Members presided over 14 years in government, delivering a position where teachers and parent teacher associations are funding basic provision in our state schools, an independent school clearly does not find itself in that position, as it is able to donate part of its profits to the local Conservative association.

I was clear in my election campaign three months ago that I would support the policy to introduce VAT on private schools. That is the mandate given to me across Bexleyheath and Crayford. For the reasons outlined, I will be opposing the motion today and supporting the Government.