Richard and Blake Stephenson, MP for Mid Bedfordshire, have jointly written to the new Labour Secretary of State for Education, urging a reconsideration of the government's plans to apply 20% VAT to Independent Schools' fees from January 2025. As highlighted in their letter, this poorly conceived policy will limit parents' ability in Bedfordshire to choose a school of their choice for their children. The hasty rollout of the policy, set for January 2025, gives parents insufficient time to make informed decisions about the best options for their children. Additionally, the policy threatens to increase class sizes in local schools, adversely affecting the quality of education for both state and private school students. You can read the letter here.
Richard Fuller MP commented:
Blake and I recognise the particular challenges for Bedfordshire that this Labour tax on education will bring. Parents should not be penalised for making sacrifices such as family holidays in order to support their children’s education. This policy will double down on the pressure on classroom sizes in all our state secondary schools making it harder for Bedfordshire children to excel and local teachers to cope. We will be looking to the new Secretary of State for Education to have specific answers to Bedfordshire’s specific needs.
In addition to being a mean, anti-aspiration measure, Labour’s policy has a potential serious practical impact on local state schools. In Bedford Borough alone we cannot take any additional students in secondary schools as the schools we already have are currently oversubscribed. Put simply, there are no secondary school places available.
In this video Richard explains some of the concerns surrounding this policy. He will vigorously oppose the measures in Parliament and will work with local schools – private and state – and with the local Council to mitigate the worst consequences. Hard-working families should have the choice of where to send their children to school.
Since the election Richard has been meeting with the headteachers of local private schools and the Head of the Harpur Trust to discuss the impact of the policy. He has also met with the Chief Officer for Education at Bedford Borough Council to better understand the knock-on effects of the policy on local state school provision.
The Minister responded on 19th August and you can read the Minister's response here.
