Hi All,

We have a full week ahead!  On Thursday 5th September, the Education Not Taxation campaign will formally submit our petition to Downing Street.  Over 198,000 people–and counting–have signed our petition, and thousands have shared their stories and concerns.  

We heard from parents with children who have Special Education Needs that weren’t met in their state schools.  We heard from parents serving in the military who wanted stability for their children.  There are also parents whose children have specific cultural and religious needs that were best met by an independent school.  Finally, there are students who simply needed more rigour than the state schools available to them could provide.

To that end, we’d like to take over 200,000 signatures with us.  We’re almost there, but we need just one more push to get across that line.  Please help us once more by sharing this update and encouraging as many people as you know to show their support.  If your children have an email address, they too can sign.

That afternoon, the House of Lords will formally debate the contributions of independent schools as well as school fee VAT.  Lord Lexden, who is President of the Independent Schools Association, is putting this debate forward.  Though the Lords cannot directly influence tax legislation like school fee VAT, they can spark a much-needed conversation.  That’s exactly what they’ll do.  We expect the debate to start around 13.15, but this could change (the Lords will debate another issue first).  More information, including how you can watch the debate from work or home, can be found here.

We also understand many of you have planned meetings with MPs to discuss your concerns.  Thank you!  If possible, ask if they can meet you on 5 September.  Let us know how you get on by getting in touch here.  If you haven’t yet,  you can find your MP here: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP. 

If you’re unsure what to write, please look at this post from the blogger Mr Chips that will help you write your letter.  If you’re in a hurry, take a look at this guidance from Mr Chips’ post, and please be sure to include this 2-page policy summary in your email/letter to your MP (both will download as PDFs, by the way).

In other news, the Adam Smith Institute published further analysis that shows what we as parents already know:  Labour’s education tax will not only force children out of their schools, but it will also bring in less money than Labour – and the Institute for Fiscal Studies – told us it would.  They point out that parents no longer burdened with school fees could spend their money on other things that don’t incur VAT – things like tutoring, paying down debt or putting more money into their pension pots.  Parents could also end up working less, or taking less demanding jobs that pay less, to spend more time with their families.  Altogether this means less money for the Treasury.

According to the Adam Smith Institute, the Government could end up with just £0.8bn if 5% of parents take their children out of independent schools (the Institute for Fiscal Studies believe 3-7% of parents will make this choice).  The Adam Smith Institute adds that the policy would break even if 10% of students are taken from their schools, and could cost up to £2.5bn if 25% of students move.  This means that Labour would have to spend upwards of £4bn to put £1.5bn into state schools with their education tax.  

With Labour’s consultation period well underway, we at Education Not Taxation have written to the Office for Budget Responsibility expressing our concerns with the analysis used to justify Labour’s policy.  We also urged them to undertake a full and dynamic analysis that considered the wider effects that Labour’s education tax could have – such as parents choosing to work less, or staff losing jobs when schools close.  You can find out more about this on this page from the Education Not Taxation website.

Finally, many of you have asked about legal action given that Labour have refused thus far to listen to reason.  A parent-led group, supported by ENT, is exploring  legal options and we will have more news to share soon.   To that end, we need your help.  If there is to be any legal challenge, we need local champions at schools across the country to encourage financial and moral support.  We have strength in our numbers, which means that we can fund effective legal action if we work together.  

If you’d be willing to help as a local champion, please complete this form if you haven’t already.  All data collected will be stored securely and only used for the purpose of updating you with updates on this work.

Thank you all for our tireless support for this fight.  We look forward to sharing more updates with you soon!

Tony Perry
Education Not Taxation