by Cllr Seona Turtle, Wokingham Without
Is Wokingham Borough Council’s Lib Dem Executive completely ignoring the possible impact that the introduction of VAT on independent school fees may have on the demand for state school places in the Borough?
The executive are failing to recognise the likely impact that the introduction of VAT on independent schools, due to be introduced in January, will have on the demand for state school places in the Borough.
In my ward I know of one family who have applied for a place in the local secondary school, and whose child has been placed 16th on the waiting list. One of the private schools, also in my ward, has stated 10% of its pupils will be leaving if VAT is imposed, and a private school in Berkshire has seen a drop in demand of 20% for Years 6 and 7, which are the most common entry points.
Furthermore, Berkshire has many smaller sized independent schools who are less likely to have large endowments or reserves to fall back on and should one or more of these go out of business the local schools need to have capacity to cope with the sudden rush in demand.
In the Borough’s School Places Strategy for the next 5 years, such a possibility is not even mentioned and therefore not considered. Whilst the actual impact at this time isn’t known it is incumbent on the executive to have a contingency plan in place so that children affected are able to attend local schools and not have to travel across the county to attend a school.
The extent to which many children already have to travel significant distances to school, because there are not spaces in their local school, is not an acceptable situation and sufficient provision ought to be available locally, to where the children live. A sudden, unplanned increase in demand would have serious consequences for the children, the families, the schools and the environment.
