Hi All,

Since launching legal action on Sunday, over 2,000 ENT supporters have contributed £81,015 to Alexis Quinn’s campaign against Labour’s plans to tax independent school fees.  That is an incredible start and we thank you for your support!

We were asked why this case is based on a child with special education needs, when parents send their children to an independent school for a wide variety of reasons--and each child matters.  I contacted SinclairsLaw, who are leading this case, with your question.  You can read their response in full here, but the key point is that the tax on children with special education needs exposes the weakness of the entire policy.  

Labour will exempt children who have Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) that name an independent school.  However, as Alexis Quinn’s case demonstrates, not every child who needs an EHCP gets one.  The Special Needs Jungle charity highlights the postcode lottery that are EHCPs in their “EHCP Hall of Shame”.  EHCPs are not a valid arbiter of “real” need, and there is broad consensus that special education needs provision is broken.  We highly recommend listening to yesterday’s live episode of “Woman’s Hour” on BBC Radio 4, which discussed this issue in depth.  

The case is clear.  Unfortunately, legal action is a costly endeavour and will need more support to demonstrate the harms of this policy and, we hope, stop it altogether.  We know that times are tough (which is why we’re fighting this tax in the first place), but we have strength in numbers.  

More than 212,000 people signed our change.org petition against Labour’s school fee VAT. If each person gave just £10, we would have over £2 million to fight this policy.  Every contribution matters, so please give what you can.  Your funds go directly to SinclairsLaw to cover legal expenses and costs associated with this case – and nothing else. If you have any questions, please let us know by contacting us here.

You can find out more about Alexis Quinn’s case, and how you can help, on the link below:

https://educationnottaxation.org/legal/

Thank you all for your tireless support!

Best regards,

Tony Perry
Education Not Taxation