The head teacher of Brighton College has criticised the Labour Party’s plan to impose value-added tax (VAT) on private school fees.
Richard Cairns criticised the policy in a letter published by The Times newspaper just as his school opened a new overseas branch in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
Labour had floated the idea of stripping independent schools of their charitable status but appears to have dropped the plan in light of the legal complexities.
Instead, the Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson signalled that a Labour government would tax the fees charged by private schools.
Mr Cairns, 57, wrote: “There is a shrinking number of areas where the UK is regarded as a global leader. Education is one of them.
“It is why my school has 10 applicants for every place from abroad and why last week we opened a new Brighton College in Vietnam, adding to branches in Singapore, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, the income from which supports free places at Brighton for local disadvantaged children and funds a state school in east London.
“Yet, rather than set out comprehensively how the UK’s state schools can emulate that success, with a meaningful plan for long-term investment in teachers, infrastructure and innovation, the Labour Party seeks merely to tax that success, undermining a British brand that brings millions of pounds into the economy and provides the UK workforce with thousands of highly educated young people who are well aware that their own good fortune gives them a responsibility to give back to society.”
His criticisms were echoed by a Birmingham University academic John Bryson who said: “Labour’s new policy imposes a tax that will prompt redundancies and unemployment among teachers and will place additional pressures and demands on state schools.”
Professor Bryson added: “Those independent schools which survive will have to reduce support for some of the most vulnerable pupils who currently receive access to special needs resources and bursaries.”
The Times policy editor Oliver Wright said that Labour had struggled to come up with a definition of an educational charity that excluded private schools without placing other charities at risk.
He said that universities, for example, were also educational charities that charged fees – and it was Labour that changed the law so that students had to pay tuition fees.
Until recently, it would have been almost impossible to levy VAT on educational fees without breaking European Union (EU) law.
But Brexit – Britain’s exit from the EU – had offered Labour the prospect of targeting schools like Brighton College.
A leading article in The Times, headed “Class war”, said: “This is a spiteful policy that will do little to change the overall educational landscape of the country but will inflict real hardship on parents of children midway through their schooling.”
The newspaper said that the truly rich would be unaffected, adding that it was “a pointless and vindictive proposal”.
Another letter writer said that it showed that Labour was more determined to make a success of levelling down than levelling up.
Brighton College charges basic boarding fees of up to £65,000 a year and more than £20,000 a year for younger day pupils.
The school generated annual revenues of £65 million, according to its most recent accounts, adding a surplus of £10 million to the balance, which last year stood at just over £130 million.
The Times quoted Professor Bryson saying that a small proportion of private schools had an annual surplus – or profit – but many struggled and another group were running an annual deficit or loss.
If he’s “inundated” with applications he won’t have any trouble filling his school when vat is levied on fees
Well, he won’t be “inundated” with applications if Labour get their way. Many of those parents are probably already paying high income tax and making great sacrifices, so that their children can have a decent education, which is something that Labour will never accept. Standards in teaching in State education are pretty dire, with many students unable to read or write properly. So who can blame parents for wanting to provide their offspring with a much better one?
Standards in state teaching are not “dire”, I’m consistently impressed with the care and attention my children receive from state school teachers, and the quality of the education. You’ll notice that parents are quite happy to pull their little darlings out of public school and into state school every time there’s a recession. The education is just as good, you just miss out on the networking with other rich people’s children, which is what they’re really paying for.
This is the most mid-wit of mid-wit comments on private schools. There’s no shadowy “networking” with rich kids (I can’t speak for Eton but I presume the old boys network is nothing compared to what it once was). How is this even supposed to work? Does my friend who went on to study dentistry somehow fix me up with an architects firm? It’s nonsense.
Parents able to pay £65k a year in school fees are typically making their money from wealth, not from a pay cheque, so no, they wouldn’t be paying high income tax and would instead be paying a lower rate of tax on investment income/ capital gains. The well off are heavily taxed in this country but not the truly rich.
What’s more the article states they’re apparently inundated with applications from abroad who thus almost certainly haven’t been paying income tax here. Nothing against people from abroad sending their children to be educated here and putting money into the economy by doing so, but is that truly a cause worthy of tax exemption while the rest of us suffer an increase in national insurance payment, income tax thresholds frozen from 2021 to 2028 and a freeze in student loan repayment thresholds, while having 5.5%+ interest rates on our mortgages?
Those who started university last month will be paying 42.5% tax on anything earned over £25,000 once they graduate, that’s £12 an hour full-time, which is what minimum wage will probably be around in 3 years, so anyone earning more than minimum wage will be paying that rate of tax, but yes, let’s think of those hard-pressed super rich people from abroad, or our own hard-pressed super rich people choking under that 20% capital gains tax!
Utter clap trap. You are an idiot if you think that is the case.
These are individuals like my parents who paid my fees at Brighton through hard work and sacrifice.
just another way for labour to tax people. why not tax labour mps on all the benefits they get , cheap lunches , second homes and costs etc etc. OAPs on a pittance do not have these. Ex state school pupil and council house tenant. It seems MPs are one law for us and tough on you who pay taxes. Bill Procter.
My child is one of those children who received an amazing scholarship as part of the Opening Doors scholarship program which has been life changing for my child! We were in a dire situation and even if a free place was offered we would not have even afforded to go because of the cost of computer’s, travel, uniform and lunches. To my amazement Brighton College did not want my child to miss out so covered all extra costs with a 120% scholarship. They have been incredibly kind in so many other ways not just financial it’s been way bigger than I can explain on here and I’m a private person. It concerns me they won’t be able to help many other children in need because of this tax. I can account 1st hand that they help in so many ways within our community that people do not have a clue about. Also we are lucky in Brighton to have relatively safe state schools but the school in London provides a life line in an area where state schools are sadly dangerous. To tax Brighton College would be insane because I doubt that tax would ever be spent so thoughtful.
Not sure why everyone can’t see if you tax education less will be spent on it less education the country gets thicker. Less Doctor,s less scientists, less entrepreneurs less GDP.
Let me put it another way no other country in Europe taxes education, we will literally be following the economic policy of Nigeria.
The next step will be closing the tax loop hole on University Places did you know that is VAT free and loans are paid out of your net income. Once Labour does this with Universities will be next.
Sorry paid out of gross income
The first rule of being a Socialist- always make sure you pull the ladder up after yourself to keep the Great Umwashed in their place.
Liebor is the party of jealousy and hellbent on destination of anything good in this county until all the people, apart from their own elite, are no more than serfs to the parties whims…
VAT was introduced 50 years ago: it is a fitting tribute to this tax that it be expanded to cover the luxury of private education .
VAT can go to cancer care, education of normal people, care for the elderly,….
The result of this police will mean the overseas rich will still be able to afford the fees but the just about managing Brighton professionals and business owners won’t be able to. Taxing children is despicable and saying that Brighton state schools are good is also a joke. I’ve seen the SATs results and all they care about are average kids and frankly the standard is dreadful in many schools. I don’t even have kids but this just feels like spite and a policy of envy.
you know what the rich are afraid of? paying taxes…
Why should the rest of us subsidize these people?
Subsidize how Doug? The government doesn’t provide a penny of subsidies to private schools.
One thing that’s striking about Brighton College, which differs from a great many other independent schools, is that it is self-contained and doesn’t dramatically contribute or participate in the wider community. It’s a place apart, isolated, that doesn’t add much to the city.
I agree. It is next to some of the schools with the most deprived schools in the city and they offer nothing. Free places for Ukrainian refugees but nothing for the kids that can’t read and write in the schools almost next door.
Sarah, they offer 20 ‘Opening Doors’ scholarships which provide fully funded places to local students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to go.
What is it you think they owe the local schools that they are not providing?
Doesn’t contribute much locally? Apart from hundreds of jobs including porters, maintenance and tradespeople, gardeners, cleaners all the way through to highly qualified and higher salaried professionals; then there’s all the local businesses they support through buying their services; then there’s their weekly work with local charities, volunteering to befriend elderly folk, helping provide language skills to local people, the kids’ fundraising for local charities, the facilities they make available to local schools and sports groups, the classes they lay on for primary schools…I could go on. But perhaps there’s no point when some people only want to make overtly political and classist statements. And in case anyone forgets, they give significant fee reductions for children who would not otherwise afford to be there, not ‘only’ Ukrainian children – though when did Brighton people become so heartless that they’d reject that act of humanity?