'Slow down' VAT plans to avoid disrupting pupils' education, ISC CEO urges ministers

In an interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC, Ms Robinson warned that implementing VAT on school fees in January will cause major disruption for parents, schools, and local authorities. She said: "January is a bad idea. Teaching unions are telling Bridget Phillipson that January doesn’t work for schools, teachers or children. Tax experts are telling Rachel Reeves that a January timeline is unworkable. Even people who support this policy broadly have said to me that an insistence on the January start seems particularly odd."

"We all know that parents and schools prepare for the beginning of an academic year in September. Schools would have set their budgets before even the general election was called this year. Starting in January is in the middle of the year, so parents who have got their children settled in the school that they’ve chosen – and they’ve taken a lot of trouble to find the right education for their child – suddenly, they’re faced with changes mid-year. And that’s going to put huge pressure on local authorities if they’re trying to find different schools for children in the middle of the year, not to mention the schools themselves, trying to cope with changes mid-year."

Outlining some of the practical difficulties that would result from implementing the policy in January, Ms Robinson said: "The bills come in December, and that makes this timescale all the more difficult. We’ve got over 200 questions lodged with the Treasury – that’s the level of detail that is lacking for schools. Schools have not been issued any detailed guidance yet. They’ve been told not to register for VAT under after the Budget, which is then November.

"This is a brand-new, complex tax for these schools. Implementing VAT is not going to be easy, especially for over 1,000 schools with under 100 pupils. This isn’t where we should be a couple of months away from this tax being rushed in in January.

"There are problems over what is VATable and what is not VATable. Some meals are, some meals are not. So, what do I do about buying food in, then, and allocating that? Some clubs are and some clubs are not. There are complexities for the billing system itself and what can be recharged, what has to be billed, and what’s VATable. VAT law is notoriously complex."

In conclusion, Ms Robinson said: "We’ve asked the government for a full impact assessment... We expect something with the Budget, but this is another reason why we’d like this process to be slowed down – to give everyone a chance to see how it might play out, and to rescue tens of thousands of children from disruption to their education before this comes in. A start point at the beginning of an academic year in the future makes a lot more sense."