Keir Starmer ‘snubbing special needs schools’ by ploughing ahead with VAT raid

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of snubbing special needs schools amid fears that children with learning difficulties will have “no place to go” after Labour’s VAT raid.

Leaders of independent special schools have told The Telegraph that senior Labour figures have refused to meet to discuss plans to impose VAT on school fees, despite fears that the policy would displace thousands of vulnerable children.

Shadow ministers have promised to exempt fees for children with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) from the 20 per cent levy. EHCPs are issued by local authorities for children with the most severe or complex needs.

However, more than 1,600 children in independent special schools do not have an EHCP, which can take years to obtain.

There would also be no exemption for nearly 100,000 pupils across all private schools who are receiving special educational needs support but do not have an EHCP, after a rise in demand for support since the Covid lockdowns.

‘No response from Sir Keir’

Michelle Catterson, the headmistress of Moon Hall School in Reigate, Surrey, a special needs school for 185 dyslexic children, said she had written to Sir Keir and Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, about her concerns, but had received no response.

Mrs Phillipson met with independent school representatives in Parliament last year, and at two events this year, according to a Labour source.

A Labour spokesman said: “Labour will invest in a brilliant state education for every child paid for by ending private schools’ tax breaks.

“Places that are funded by Education Health and Care Plans for children with special educational needs will not have a higher cost as a result of VAT.”

Parents can ask their local authority to carry out an assessment if they think their child needs an EHCP. If they decide to carry out an assessment, parents may need to provide school reports, doctors’ assessments and a letter about their child’s needs. The local authority is supposed to deliver an EHC plan within 20 weeks of the request for an assessment.

Ms Catterson told The Telegraph: “The fact that the Labour Party are sort of ploughing ahead with this, and being so resolute that this is what they are going to do, without actually talking to people like myself, who are working in schools, and to families who will be impacted, I think is actually quite shocking.”

She said that about 30 per cent of pupils at her school, which charges fees of between £7,380 and £9,377 per year, did not have an EHCP. They had come to Moon Hall School because they found the state sector could not meet their needs, and many had “grandparents and aunts and uncles who are taking on a second job just to pay the fees”, she said. 

She fears they will no longer be able to afford to pay if VAT is added to fees.

“People often think of Eton and Harrow and all these really affluent schools, but they forget that there are many small schools like mine,” she said. “Where do these children go if 30 per cent of my families can no longer afford fees? The schools in the local area are oversubscribed. There is no place for these children to go.”

‘Parents take on second jobs’

Jonathan Hetherington, headmaster of More House School, in Farnham, Surrey, a school for 500 boys with learning and language-based difficulties, also said that Labour had refused to discuss the “unintended consequences” of the VAT plans with him. 

Mr Hetherington invited MPs and peers to discuss the proposals in February at an event in Portcullis House, part of the parliamentary estate which houses MPs’ offices. However, not a single Labour MP showed up, he said.

Mr Hetherington said: “It’s parents who never originally planned to use independent schools who are going to be most affected.”

He added: “Quite often the parents have taken on second jobs, remortgaged the house, or granny, grandpa and uncle and everyone is pitching in just to try and meet the fees because they see our fees as being essential to ensure their child has a reasonable chance to realise that they are clever and to have a good life ahead of them.”

Mr Hetherington said that around a third of children at the school did not have EHCPs. However, the school has seen a huge rise in parents deciding to try to obtain one amid the VAT threat from Labour. If they succeed, it would mean their place would be funded by the local authority.

However, Mr Hetherington said the system was skewed towards children from the most affluent families, who could afford legal advice to get approval from overwhelmed councils.

Councils are supposed to respond to requests for EHCPs within 20 weeks, but data published in 2023 show that the number of children waiting longer rose by 35 per cent the year after the pandemic.

Labour has said that it would not exempt special schools from its VAT raid because it believes that private schools would exploit a “loophole” by claiming to be special schools.

Sir Keir has claimed that the VAT policy will raise around £1.6 billion to fund more mental health staff and expert teachers in state schools.

Julie Robinson, the chief executive of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), said: “Nearly 100,000 students in ISC schools are receiving SEND support but do not have an EHCP. We are deeply concerned about the potential disruption to their education and the resulting pressure it would cause within state SEND provision.

“We would welcome the opportunity to talk to Labour and to work with them in mitigating any unintended consequences of their proposed policy.”

Labour has been contacted for comment.

‘I moved my dyslexic son to a private special school because the state sector couldn’t cope’

Edwina Coltart, 50, says she never intended to send her son, Archie, 14, to a private school.

However, he struggled to cope at state primaries in south-west London and when she investigated what was going on, she found out he is autistic and also has dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD.

When she was looking at secondary schools, she was told that Lambeth, the local authority, would only offer EHCPs to a small percentage of pupils with learning difficulties.

Mrs Coltart, a reflexologist, said that she and her husband were concerned “about how overstretched the state system was already”, and about her son’s future. 

They decided to move out of London so that he could attend More House School in Farnham, Surrey, where she says he is now “thriving” thanks to smaller class sizes and teaching methods that cater for children with neurodiverse minds.

Day fees at the school are up to £20,055 a year.

If Labour wins the next election and adds VAT to fees, she says she will have to work longer hours and spend less time with her children. They will also consider applying for an EHCP.

However, she believes many families would be forced to pull their children out of special schools. 

“I believe that a lot of children whose parents are paying, who are doing their best to put their children into schools like More House will then end up in the state system. And I worry that the state system is already not managing children with special needs particularly well.”