Hi All,

Thank you all for your continued support in our fight against Labour’s plans to tax school fees.  The Finance Bill is still working its way through Parliament, and we expect it to reach the final stage–Royal Ascent–in or around February.  Unfortunately, VAT still goes into effect from January because MPs voted to approve it as a resolution in early November.  

Legal Action:
The fight isn’t over yet – not by a longshot.  Legal action can only begin when the bill has had Royal Ascent and is law.  Legal teams are using the time to prepare, strengthen their arguments and find new claimants whose experiences show broader harms this bill will cause.  They published an update yesterday on the CrowdJustice site, but you can find their update below:

It has been pointed out that there haven't been any updates for a while, for which we apologise. This is largely because we have all been waiting for the Finance Bill to move through Parliament. But here are the key points to focus on;

• Sinclairslaw has been flat out preparing the case, and are in good shape
• More claimants from beyond SEN have been signed up, some representing previously overlooked but powerful legal angles
• Expert witnesses have been engaged across the economic and discrimination work streams. They are well into drafting their detailed analysis and arguments
• The team is ready to go as soon as the Finance Bill receives Royal Assent. We now feel this will be around February - not much motivation for the Government to bring it in before the 1st January VAT deadline sadly.

It is disappointing but telling that the Government has prioritised this cruel and child-harming policy over almost any other of its manifesto pledges. This haste has however created legal weaknesses which we hope to expose. Thanks so much for all your support. Don't forget about us. We will endeavour to update you more regularly from here.

The Claimants and Volunteers

Local Authorities, and State Schools, Feeling the Effects:

As the January start date for Labour’s education tax approaches, local authorities–and state schools–are starting to feel the effects of this policy.  Buckinghamshire Council published a statement on Monday that outlined their concerns and their plans to carry out an impact assessment.  

They write:

“Every child in Buckinghamshire deserves the best education whether that is in a mainstream school or an independent school. We are calling for an urgent reassessment of this Government policy so we can mitigate its adverse effects on Buckinghamshire's education system.”

You can read their full statement here.

Parent Making the Case:
One parent, Ana Boulter, has been making the case against school fee VAT with powerful daily videos on social media.  She hears from parents every day, and is doing her best to make their voices heard.  She’s also explaining the problems we’re already seeing:  Children torn out of their schools, local authorities having no places to receive them and state schools with different curricula and testing.  

We urge you to follow Ana Boulter, subscribe to her updates and share far and wide.  Ana’s  Tiktok channel is here, her Twitter channel is here and her YouTube channel is here.

Petition to Parliament:

Another parent, Hugh Beckinsale, has launched a new petition on Parliament’s website.  This offers a new step in our campaign.  We have delivered our change.org petition to Parliament in October, with over 220,000 signatures.  Now we have another opportunity to be heard.  

The Government will respond to Hugh’s petition if 10,000 of us sign.  If over 100,000 people sign, the Government will consider a debate in Parliament on this specific issue.  

As you share, consider these points as well from the ENT team:

• Serious analysis by the Adam Smith Institute shows that the Government could lose up to £1.6bn through this tax, starving state schools of even more resources.  
• Labour MP Matt Rodda’s paper from 2013 shows that such “in-year” transfers harm children, especially at GCSE/A-level.  Yet we have heard nothing from him and he backs this bill. 
• Labour MP Rachael Maskell did speak out, calling this a “step too far” that will harm children with SEND.

You can find this petition here:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/701268

Please share Hugh’s petition far and wide.  Let’s collectively have our voices heard once again.

We urge the Government to #findabetterway.

Thank you all for your tireless support.  You are not alone in this fight.  We stand together.  

With best regards,

Tony Perry
ENT