City school to launch challenge over VAT increase

The head teacher at Emmanuel School, Ben Snowdon, fears parents may not be able to afford the increase

A school in Derby is launching a court challenge against the government's imposition of value added tax (VAT) on fees.

Emmanuel School and other faith schools claim the tax would unlawfully discriminate against them as it could force Christian schools to close.

The government says the money raised by imposing VAT would be used to improve standards in the state sector.

The changes are set to come into force in January.

The school in Kedleston Road is one of three set to challenge the government.

Emmanuel School, which has 63 pupils, was established in 1988 and currently charges £4,320 per year.

Head teacher Ben Snowdon said: "The families that we have at Emmanuel are not wealthy, they are choosing to send their children here and they are making sacrifices because of that.

"For some of them, an additional 20% on top of what they are currently paying would be too much, they wouldn't be able to manage that and then they would have to make decisions about what they were going to do about their children's education."

The action is backed by the Christian Legal Centre and also also involves the Branch Christian School in Yorkshire and the King’s School in Hampshire.

The schools are also concerned pupils with special needs may be unable to finish qualifications and access tertiary education.

Emmanuel School has 63 pupils and offers a Christian-based education

The independent IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) has predicted the tax would raise between £1.3bn and £1.5bn per year.

The government says the money raised would to go towards the public finances and help improve education and outcomes for young people.

Ministers said they did not expect raising VAT would cause private school fees to go up by 20%, as they did not have to reflect the increase in what they charged.

The government has said it expects private schools will try to minimise any fee increases.

But Mr Snowdon said: "Our parents pay quite low fees and we keep a very tight budget because of that.

"Therefore, we wouldn't be able to absorb that 20% increase in our costs on the fees. We would have to pass the majority or all of that on to our parents."

Previously, a spokesperson for His Majesty's Treasury said: "Ending tax breaks on private schools will help to raise the revenue needed to fund our education priorities for next year, such as recruiting 6,500 new teachers."