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Following the announcement this morning, I can confirm that unfortunately we have lost the VAT case. After over two months of waiting, this judgement comes as a huge disappointment, but with the continued support of the Christian Legal Centre, we plan to appeal the judgment. Four times as many pupils as the government expected have left independent education, which means it is increasingly unlikely that significant funds will be raised by this policy for state schools or housing, as we have recently heard. As a small independent Christian school already working within extremely narrow profit margins, this legislation and the increase in business rates has impacted both our families and our school budget. Across the sector, smaller schools are struggling to remain financially afloat, which was already a challenge even before the imposition of VAT on fees, which was an ideological move against freedom of choice.
Our argument is that taxing the provision of education in this way is a breach of the right to education guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and the policy disproportionately affects certain groups, including military families, those with children with special educational needs (SEND), and individuals with specific religious or philosophical beliefs, like those in our school. This unjust legislation has already had a devastating impact on the independent school sector, causing many children to leave their schools and even many schools to close.
We press on, secure that God is our firm foundation and the one in whom we trust. Although this is not the outcome we have hoped and prayed for, a real positive that has come out of this case has been to shatter the stereotypes around private schools and raise public awareness about the breadth of the independent sector. Regardless of the outcome we will continue to provide in the best way possible for our pupils and support our families by appealing against this judgement.
Please find Christian Concern's press release here.
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