I am holding a drop-in event in Larkhill this weekend to hear from military families who will be impacted by Labour's plans to put tax on private school fees.
The plans, which are due to come into effect in January 2025, will see private school fees subjected to 20 per cent VAT, with parents shouldering the extra cost. Today I have written to the Minister responsible for independent schools to request that military parents who are required to be deployed overseas are exempt from this tax, and wants to hear from families who will be affected.
I am increasingly concerned by how military families are going to be impacted by the addition of private school fees from the start of next year, and that this could lead to soldiers withdrawing from our Armed Forces at the very time we need them most.
My constituency is home to thome to the largest number of soldiers and their families of any constituency in the country, many of whom are facing great uncertainty at not being able to afford their children's school fees. One recently wrote to me: "I am a service family. I deploy across the world at the country’s request. Continuity of education is critical to my child. It would be very hard to find the extra VAT bill on Private School education as set out by the Government in the latest King’s Speech. Moving every two years would require us to withdraw our son from the state sector and make it challenging, to say the least, to find a school of choice near our service family accommodation, often with little to no notice of where we may be stationed."
I understand almost 5,000 children from military and diplomatic families who are in receipt of the Continuity of Education Allowance will be affected by these changes, and that many military families have threatened to quit our Armed Forces if their children are not given an exemption.
The families who will be hit by this decision are hardworking people who want continuity for their children in the face of the upheaval that comes with serving in the military. They are people who are already spending significant amounts of money to do so. I want to hear from them about how this decision by the Government will affect them.
To suggest that children of military parents can access state boarding schools is not enough - those that exist are at full capacity, but many are closing. Wellington Academy, in Tidworth, has announced its boarding house will close next year as it's no longer financially viable.
Continuity of Education Allowance is a long-standing policy, which enables eligible military and diplomatic families to choose to provide an education for their children at a British boarding school in the UK while they continue to take up postings overseas at regular intervals during their career. The CEA is usually used because either the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) does not permit staff to take their children to certain countries for health or security reasons, or local schools of an acceptable standard are not available. More than 4,000 pupils are currently in receipt of CEA. I have asked the Government to consider making these pupils exempt from the tax.
The drop-in for military parents will take place at Sharp Hall, 234 Watson Road, Larkhill, SP4 8RB at 11am on Saturday, 12th October. If you are planning to attend please email [email protected].
