“This was a manifesto commitment and we have been clear that the change would be included in our first budget."
The Labour Party could scrap the tax breaks which private schools enjoy as soon as January, as it gets through delivering its manifesto commitments.
Under current rules, there is a VAT exemption on private school fees, with private schools also getting around 80% relief on business rates. The Labour Party had pledged in its manifesto that it would remove the VAT exemption on private school fees and use the £1.6billion-a-year raised to pay for 6,500 extra teachers in state primary and secondary schools.
The Tory supporting press whipped up a moral panic over the issue, dedicating column inches to the subject and repeatedly slamming Labour’s plans in a desperate attempt to discredit the policy.
However, the measures were announced in the King’s Speech and although it was initially reported the plans would not become reality until September 2025, it now appears that it could happen a lot sooner as part of Labour’s first finance bill.
The Mirror reports on a Labour source quoted in the Times: “This was a manifesto commitment and we have been clear that the change would be included in our first budget.
“We are keen for this to take effect as soon as possible and have given parents fair warning that these changes are coming.”
The Tory supporting press tried to claim that families would be priced out of private schools and it would lead to more pressures on the state sector, however the number of children attending private schools in England has risen, according to the Independent Schools Council’ latest figures.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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