A mother who says she has been forced to remove her SEND twins from their private school because of Labour’s VAT policy has accused the Government of “taking away every opportunity” her children have to thrive.
The Government maintains that charging 20 per cent VAT on private school fees, which came into effect from 1 January, is necessary to sustain the underfunded state sector.
However, campaigners argue the measure unlawfully discriminates against pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), who rely on the private sector for their education.
Forensic scientist Jennie Armstrong and her husband had considered selling their home in Warrington, Cheshire, to raise the extra funds to cover the cost of higher fees as a result of the VAT but soon realised they would still be short.
“The amount that we’d be saving each month wouldn’t be enough to still send them to the school because of the amount it’s increasing by,” she told The i Paper.
It has left them no choice but to give notice to the school that they will be withdrawing their sons, Ms Armstrong said.
The Armstrongs currently pay £4,360 per term for each of their twins – seven-year-old Oscar and Joshua – and then £400 to cover lunches, a total of £4,730 per child per term.
They had already factored in how they would cover the standard annual rise in fees but Ms Armstrong said footing the bills to date has already put them into £22,897 of debt.
From September, the fees will rise to £5,000, bringing the total including lunches to £5,400 per term, per child.
“We were just scraping by as it was already and with the introduction of the 20 per cent VAT, it’s just gone beyond what we can even try to afford.
“Even now I’m hoping for a miracle that something’s going to happen and we don’t have to take them out of the school.”
Ms Armstrong said she is “heartbroken” at having to move her sons from their private school to a state school and feels like she has failed them.
She does not believe the boys, who were born prematurely at 26 weeks and require additional support, will have their needs met in the state sector.
Joshua, left, and Oscar, right, will be removed from their private school because of the introduction of VAT on school fees (Photo: Supplied)Joshua has suspected ADHD and really struggles with change and anxiety. He also has sensory needs, which means he requires a lot more movement, noise and contact input.
Oscar, who has Nephrotic syndrome, a condition that affects the kidneys and means he has frequent relapses where his kidneys stop functioning properly, struggles the most. He also has sensory issues, bad anxiety and suspected autism.
Ms Armstrong said the private school have put in a lot of strategies for Oscar and “a lot of guidance and support to allow him to access that education on a daily basis”.
This includes weekly pastoral care sessions and assistance to help manage incontinence issues.
“What’s going to happen now is he’s going to go into a school that can’t provide any of that,” Ms Armstrong said.
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Read MoreShe argued that the Government is “taking away every opportunity my children have to thrive and to have an education that they deserve”.
“I feel like I’ve failed my children and that I’m not able to give them that support that they need. They should be allowed to have a nurturing environment and, and to be able to access education, and I feel like putting them in that bigger school is not going to give them that.”
The family’s application for Oscar to be assessed for an education, health and care plan (EHCP) has been denied by Warrington Borough council.
Last month, The i Paper revealed the Government is considering tightening the rules on which children with special educational needs qualify for specified extra support, in a move that could result in more of them being educated in mainstream schools.
The rejection means if Oscar is eventually granted an EHCP, it is unlikely to be in place before he starts at a state school in September.
The Armstrongs are planning to appeal the council’s decision and Ms Armstrong said she is prepared to take the fight to a tribunal.
“I will not stop fighting,” she said.
Why VAT is being placed on private school fees
According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the policy will create £460m in revenue for the Treasury in 2024-25, over £1.5bn in 2025-26 and 2026-27, rising to £1.6bn in 2027-28 and 2028-29.
The OBR’s forecast states the cost of educating an additional 35,000 state sector pupils will cost £300m, based on a £7,690 per pupil cost in England.
The Government has said this money will go towards state sector priorities such as recruiting 6,500 new teachers in key subjects in state schools, reforming Ofsted and creating more than 3,000 new nurseries.
Money from taxing private school fees will support the 94 per cent of children in state schools to “achieve and thrive”, the Treasury said.
Ms Armstrong is not alone in her fight. Families with children at private schools are waiting to find out whether their High Court challenge against the Government over the imposition of VAT on fees has been successful after three day hearing concluded on Thursday.
At least 35,000 children could be displaced from private schools to state schools because of increased costs, a lawyer representing affected families told the court.
To help with the transition, Oscar and Joshua have been told they will be leaving their current school.
Ms Armstrong said: “They just keep asking, ‘can we stay? We want to stay at the school. We don’t want to leave’.”
In a previous statement, a Government spokesperson said: “Ending tax breaks for private schools will raise £1.8bn a year by 2029/30 to help deliver 6,500 new teachers and raise school standards, supporting the 94 per cent of children in state schools to achieve and thrive.
“Fewer than 0.1 per cent of pupils are expected to move schools this year as a result of ending tax breaks for private schools, set against over one million spare places in schools across the country.”
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