Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed application of VAT to private school fees on families who can only access SEND provision in private schools due to deficits in local provision.

The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education, which is why we have made the tough decision to end tax breaks for private schools. This will raise revenue for essential public services, including investing in the state education system.

State education is accessible to all children. All children of compulsory school age are entitled to a state-funded school place if they need one and the Department for Education works to support Local Authorities to ensure every local area has sufficient places for pupils.

Where pupils are placed in a private school because their needs cannot be met in the state sector, and they have their places funded by their Local Authority, the Local Authority will be able to reclaim the VAT they incur on these pupils’ fees. In Northern Ireland, it will be the Education Authority who fund placements in private schools and will be able to reclaim the VAT in this way.

Where a placement at a specific private school is necessary to meet the pupil’s needs in England, that school will be named in the pupil’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).