Private schools vote for legal action over VAT plans

A group representing 1,400 private schools will press ahead with plans for a legal challenge against the government’s introduction of VAT from January, the BBC can reveal.

In a board meeting on Thursday, the Independent Schools Council (ISC), the body which includes most independent schools in the UK, voted to pave the way for legal action.

Lord David Pannick KC, one of the country’s leading barristers in cases relating to government decisions, is to lead the challenge which will be brought on behalf of parents, including those with children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).

A Treasury spokesperson told the BBC they do not comment on potential litigation matters.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed private schools would no longer be exempt from VAT in the autumn Budget, saying the money raised would help “provide the highest quality of support and teaching” in the state sector.

The government has estimated it would raise £460m extra to spend on state schools next year, rising to £1.7bn by 2029/30.

The ISC is hoping for a judicial review of the government's policy, which will focus around claims of breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The action will be brought around Article 14, the prohibition of discrimination, and the first protocol of Article 2, the right to education.

The ISC informed its members of its plans to take forward legal action, in an email to private schools on Thursday afternoon.

The group says its legal claimants will be parents who argue they cannot find an alternative education for their children in the state sector, and are likely to include families with children with special educational needs.

Chief Executive Julie Robinson says they “will be defending the rights of families who have chosen independent education, but who may no longer be able to do so as a direct result of VAT on their fees”.

“We continue to ask the government to work with us to mitigate the risks of this policy on specialist arts education, on low-fee faith schools, on small girls’ schools and on children with Send.”

Rebecca Frost, a nurse and mother of three children in private school in Somerset, is pleased the action is being taken.

All of her children have special educational needs. She is currently applying for an education, health and care plan (EHCP), as she will have to pay an additional £9,000 a year once the changes come into place.

“State education was unable to meet their needs despite trying various different options,” Mrs Frost says. “I could not put them back there”.

In an impact assessment released on Wednesday, the government confirmed that only those children with a local authority EHCP, with a private school named on it, will be exempt from the VAT policy.

It added that "carving all children with Send out of this policy would carry a significant cost, and therefore undermine the government’s ability to improve education for the 94% of school children in the UK that attend state schools".

It promised to increase a grant to help cover boarding school fees for children of military families to take account of rising fees.

But its assessment also concluded that small faith schools will not be exempt as they “are likely to be less than proportionately impacted if their income is derived not only from fees but also from other sources, such as voluntary donations from the community, or support from religious organisations”.

Aliya Azam is from the Al Khoei Foundation, which represents two Muslim faith schools in London - they charge fees from £1,250 to £6,990. She says parents are being forced to choose “between their faith and financial survival”.

“We support the legal challenge because faith-based education deserves protection, not a price tag”, she added.

The plans will lead to fees rising by an average of 10%, and will see about 35,000 students moving to state schools over the longer term - around 6% of the current private school population, according to the government.

The money raised is expected to help fund 6,500 new teachers in England.