Families launch legal action over government’s private school fees VAT raid
Share:
The lawyer representing the claimants accused the government of rushing the VAT policy through. Six families have launched a legal challenge against the government’s plan to impose VAT on private schools, claiming it is discriminatory against certain pupils.
The families, supported by the Independent Schools Council (ISC), have filed a High Court judicial review claim - arguing the tax could price them out of private education and into the state sector where their needs cannot be met. The legal challenge claims the policy is discriminatory because it causes unnecessary harm to certain categories of children. The families are therefore seeking a declaration of incompatibility under section 4 of the Human Rights Act, saying the new tax is incompatible with ECHR rights.
The ISC argues children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) are “facing real uncertainty; families of vulnerable girls in single-sex schools are confronting painful choices; minority Jewish and Muslim families fear they cannot provide an education for their children that respects their faith; and foreign nationals following the curriculum of their home country have few, if any, alternatives”.
Julie Robinson, the lobby group’s CEO, said: “Throughout the debate over charging VAT on education, we have consistently said that the diversity within independent schools has been ignored by policymakers. “As a result of the government’s blanket approach, the impact is likely to be felt immediately by many families and children, many of whom have chosen an independent school for reasons including faith, SEND support, dual-language learning or single-sex education.
