Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children leaving the independent sector are able to access state education within commutable distance.

This government is committed to ending the VAT exemption that private schools enjoy. Projections by the Institute for Fiscal Studies indicate that the number of pupils who may switch schools as a result of these changes is likely to represent a very small proportion of overall pupil numbers in the state sector, with any displacement expected to take place over several years. This research can be found here: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/tax-private-school-fees-and-state-school-spending.

On the matter of home to school travel in the state sector, the department’s policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home to school travel for children of compulsory school age, 5 to 16, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. Local authorities have the discretion to arrange travel for other children, but are not required to do so.

Where a child is not eligible for free home to school travel from the local authority, it is the parent’s responsibility to make the necessary travel arrangements.