Labour’s strategy of adding VAT to private school fees has been questioned by a think tank that reported the policy to be based on flawed calculations.
According to a 2017 Labour’s document called “Funding Britain’s Future” (pdf), VAT on private school fees would yield £1.6 billion a year, which could be invested in state schools instead.
But the EDSK education think tank argued in its new report (pdf) that adding VAT on private school fees would raise “very little” new revenue for the government.
The size of the revenue unlocked by Labour’s policy seems “very optimistic,” said the report, adding that it doesn’t account for pupils driven away from private to state schools as a result of the tax. Such change would require extra funding to educate these pupils in state schools….