Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Bill Debate

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Department: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
David Simmonds Portrait David Simmonds
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My hon. Friend highlights a point that many of us will have heard from our local state schools: the fact that they are in sharing arrangements with private schools to access facilities. They are concerned that, as the cost drivers introduced by the Government and the Budget increase the pressure on those schools, they may lose the free or low-cost access they have.

Lewis Cocking Portrait Lewis Cocking (Broxbourne) (Con)
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I had a meeting with a state school in my constituency that said the changes will be damaging because it gets a grant from a private school, which will have to be cut to deal with the impact of VAT. That state school, which is in a genuinely working-class community, will be £200,000 a year worse off under this policy. Does my hon. Friend agree that that is terrible?

David Simmonds Portrait David Simmonds
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I agree that it is terrible, but sadly it is typical of the consequences introduced into the system by the actions of the Government.