Hi All,

Rachel Reeves announced her Budget today and the Government are still pushing to tax education from January.  This is despite over 220,000 parents and supporters (all of us), plus teachers and their unions, SEND experts, military personnel, economists and others, urging her and the Government to rethink this policy.  

Labour have now offered some protection for military families, as well as children with EHCPs naming an independent school, but our goal is to expand this to everyone.  We are already seeing children forced from their schools, and this will continue as this tax takes hold.  

We at Education Not Taxation are disappointed that the Government have refused to hear our voices, but we aren’t surprised.  We will fight to minimise the damage of this policy as it goes through the amendment process.  We will also campaign for its repeal.

We are working our way through the Budget and Office for Budget Responsibility analysis.  We’ll share more thoughts on this in the coming days, but we wanted to let you know we hear your concerns.

As we get closer to January, we also know that many of you are preparing to move your child to a different school because of this tax.  More of you will do this by the end of the school year next summer.

To those facing this choice:  We want you to know that we haven’t forgotten you, and we need your help too.  We want to know how your transition goes.  We also want to know about any challenges you run into, such as overcrowded classes, inadequate SEND support or bullying.  This helps us continue the fight even after this tax takes hold.  You can join our Facebook page (if you haven't already) or write us through the ENT website. 

Finally, we again urge parents of children with SEND to apply for an EHCP, if you haven’t already.  iNews reported last week that Councils are already seeing a surge of EHCP applications from independent school parents.  Despite this, the Labour Government made clear that only children with EHCPs naming an independent school funded by their local authority merit an exemption.  These are the rules they set.  It is daunting, but there are local organisations there to help.  These are called SEND Independent Advisory Services, and their advice is free for you.  

Thank you all for your tireless support for this fight.  Our fight continues and we look forward to sharing more news soon.

Best regards,

Tony Perry
Education Not Taxation