Children are not statistics - but the Government is “heartlessly toying” with their lives

“A prime duty of the government in education policy should be to encourage excellence (and) access - hallmarks of schools such as Brentwood. This policy (adding VAT to school fees) does the opposite: it is a tax on opportunity and achievement. It is the first time in five decades that a Government has had levelling down as an aim of education policy, rather than levelling up.”

This perspective was provided by Lord Black of Brentwood, Chairman of the School’s Governors, in his contribution to the House of Lords debate on September 5th, which “took note of the contribution of independent schools, and any potential effects that changes to the VAT exemption for independent school fees could have.”

Lord Black, who is also President of the Boarding Schools Association and the Institute of Boarding, related his own experience to the present context. “My parents sent my brother and me to Brentwood. They were not wealthy. It was a real struggle for them but they never regretted it. My parents were just the sort of people, battling to make ends meet to pay the fees, who would have been hardest hit by this spiteful policy.

“They would not have been able to cope with a sudden 20 per cent increase, especially half way through the school year. We would have been placed in a state school, adding to overcrowded classrooms. That is what will happen now---one of many reasons why this policy will end up costing taxpayers money. This is voodoo economics. Those affected will be young people at their most vulnerable. They are not statistics but children whose lives this Government is heartlessly toying.”

He told the noble Lords that Brentwood School played a full part in helping many from less well off backgrounds, spending nearly £2.5 million each year on over 120 bursaries. There was an active programme of partnerships and volunteer programmes with the local community. Many local state schools were provided with sporting, musical and science facilities and laptops. That was replicated across the sector. All this was clearly at risk if VAT, alongside the removal of business rate relief, hit the financial sustainability of independent schools.

Lord Black continued: “Boarding schools, both state and independent, are a vital part of the education sector, contributing £3 billion a year to the economy and providing 64,000 jobs. They educate 70,000 a year, with 25,000 coming from overseas, making them part of the incredible international success story of independent education.  They play a particularly important role in training young people in music, singing and ballet. They are a crucial part of the UK’s creative economy, especially when music education is collapsing in state schools.

“They provide indispensable continuity for military families. The Government say they will not charge VAT on state boarding fees but will on  independent boarding fees. Why on earth should they be treated differently, if not simply for ‘ideological’ reasons? Should not fees for military families and for students enrolled in music and dance schemes, be exempt in the interests of wider public policy and at a cost of just a few million pounds?

“This shamefully puts crude ‘ideology’ before the interests of children, many with special needs. The Government must delay its implementation until September 2025, undertake a proper consultation, talk to the sector and come back with plans that are properly thought through, costed and practical. It is time to put children before party.”

The debate attracted 35 speakers who pointed out a range of flaws in the proposed measure, not least in relation to the teaching of specialist subjects and provision for those with special needs---often where no state provision existed. Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and nearly all Crossbenchers were solidly against.

Labour peer Lord Hacking could not support the proposal, irrespective of its being in the manifesto. “It is immoral and destined to bring about significant social and political damage to my party and country.”

His Labour colleague Lord Winston said that levelling down by taking money from private schools could not possibly make a difference to the state sector’s considerable problems. “The attitude of damning the private sector with all the objections we have heard - and I agree with them completely, they are really serious - needs to change.”