- Keir Starmer defends Labour’s decision to remove tax exemptions from private schools if elected, stating it is not an “attack” on the sector.
- Private school leaders criticize the policy plans, including the removal of their business rates exemption.
- Labour backtracks on plans to end the charitable status of private schools in England, stating it is no longer necessary to fulfill their commitment to charge VAT on fees and make private schools pay full business rates.
- Private schools in England currently receive an 80% discount on business rates and do not have to pay VAT on school fees.
- Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, expresses concerns about creating a two-tier system within the charity sector and the potential precedent it sets.
- Labour accused of a U-turn on their policy, but party sources clarify that they only intended to remove VAT and business rates perks, not charitable status.
- Labour spokesperson reaffirms their policy to remove tax breaks from private schools to fund education initiatives.
- The Institute for Fiscal Studies finds that removing tax exemptions from private schools is unlikely to significantly impact the number of pupils attending them.
Source: tes.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
