KEIR STARMER MOVES TO TAX PRIVATE EDUCATION- Government predicts the new policy will raise £1.5 million yearly.
The Labour government has introduced a new policy to tax private education. The policy – removing a tax exemption for private schools, which is part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s battle to raise revenues to spend on ailing public services and plug a hole in public finances, has been hailed as a political gamble.
Parents of 600,000 estimated pupils who attend private schools now face the same decision of whether to accept paying higher fees or place their children in state schools.
The government forecasts the removal of an exemption from value added tax – a 20% sales tax levied on most goods and services – will raise up to 1.5 billion pounds a year($1.98 billion) which it says will pay for 6,500 new state school teachers, boosting the budget for state school spending in England by 2%
It’s a move that the Labour party says will go some way to rebalancing a two-tier education system criticised by some for entrenching privilege among the wealthy. However, critics have warned it could lead to an exodus of pupils and heap pressure on the state system.
Average private school fees stand at 18,000 pounds a year, according to the ISC, an industry body representing 1,400 private schools. While private schools have been raising their fees, funding for the state system fell by 9% between 2010 and 2020 on a real-terms spend per pupil basis in England, according to the IFS.
When challenged about the policy , Prime Minister Keir Starmer had earlier stated that he wants every child to have the same opportunities regardless of the school they go to or their background.
