Independent Schools: VAT and Business Rates Exemptions

Gideon Amos Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Caroline Voaden]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that those children are going to be most affected by this policy. For those families, the tax change is a regressive step that will force them into an impossible situation and have a devastating impact on children who have already had a difficult start in life—many of whom have experience of the care system, our failing mental health system and a state school system completely unable to cope with all their additional or complex needs. Yes, the state school system desperately needs investment—we know that. We know that the provision for SEND is in a disastrous state, nowhere more so than in Devon, and the chronic underfunding of councils by the previous Government has decimated SEND provision.

[Mr Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas) on securing this important debate. In my constituency, Taunton school, Wellington school, King’s college and Queen’s college make a massive contribution to the local economy. Beyond that, they also cater for many children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Minister should consider resources for local authorities to cope with the wave of applications for support from SEND children currently being supported in independent schools? They are not applying for EHCPs now but will doubtless need to in future, if they are no longer able to get the care and support they need at their schools. Does she also agree that the Minister should secure a rise in the armed forces allowance to cope with the 20% increase?

[Caroline Voaden]

It is interesting that nobody is here from the Department for Education to defend the policy and that we have heard nothing about the contribution it will make to increasing SEND provision in state schools. I certainly know that the state schools in my area cannot cope with any additional need, and we have heard nothing about that. Dare I say that the Liberal Democrats had several suggestions for tax-raising options in our election manifesto that do not seem to have been considered yet by this Government? I humbly suggest that a tax on social media companies might be a good place to start, given the impact that they have on the mental health of our young people.

I implore the Minister to rethink how the VAT policy will damage families who have tried so hard to find the right setting so that their children can thrive. If he would like to come to South Devon and see for himself what some of these brilliant schools offer, I will be delighted to show him around.

--- Later in debate ---

[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.