Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the introduction of VAT on independent schools on employment in such schools in South Suffolk constituency.

On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. This will also apply to boarding services provided by private schools.

Specialist Post-16 Institutions (SPIs) offer a unique mix of education, health, and social care services. The Treasury is working with the Department for Education and the SPI sector to establish the future VAT treatment of these institutions. This will be communicated when the Government confirms the introduction of this policy at Budget.

Following scrutiny of the Government’s costing by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, details of the Government’s assessment of the expected impacts of these policy changes will be published at the Budget in the usual way.