As parents and schools complain of chaos, Ms Phillipson refuses to spell out details of the assessment made by the department for education. Bridget Phillipson failed to spell out the full impact of the government’s private school VAT raid, dodging the question when asked about the possible implications for special education schools.
![[Rachel Reeves is facing a High Court challenge over the raid]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/11/newFile.jpg)
While she said the government has “looked at all of the potential impacts”, her answer failed to provide any real detail on the expected consequences. It comes as parents and schools complain about the implications of the tax raid, which came into force on New Year’s Day and is expected to raise £1.5bn for the Treasury.
Asked what assessment the government has made of the impact on the special education (Send) capacity in state schools, if children are removed from private schools and put into the state system, Ms Phillipson said: “As part of the process, through the budget around the changes that we're setting out, we've looked at all of the potential impacts, including on the schools themselves and the potential for movement of children.
“But I'm afraid, you know, we do have to be clear about where that is through an identified need where it has been defined that a child requires a place within a specialist provision because their needs cannot be met elsewhere, there will be no additional costs.
