Scottish private schools involved in legal action against Labour government over VAT

The Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS) is an affiliate of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), which voted on Thursday for legal action.

It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed the January implementation of VAT on private school fees in her Budget on Wednesday.

Lorraine Davidson, chief executive of SCIS, said: “The Scottish Council of Independent Schools took its own steps to obtain a legal opinion from a KC on the strengths of a legal challenge in the Scottish courts in relation to the many differences in the Scottish sector, and the likely discrimination faced by pupils and families in Scotland.

“This advice will help inform the legal challenge being taken by ISC, of which we are an affiliate body.”

The BBC reported that Lord David Pannick KC, one of the country’s leading barristers in cases relating to government decisions, is to lead the challenge, which will be brought on behalf of parents, including those with children with additional support needs.

The Treasury do not comment on potential litigation matters.

The Scotsman understands the legal challenge is likely to highlight specific concerns from Scottish private schools about the impact north of the Border.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said this week it was modelling for a 6 per cent decrease in private school pupils as a result of VAT, with parents likely to be asked to pick-up about two-thirds of the extra costs.

This would equate to about 1,800 pupils in Scotland, although SCIS has highlighted the impact could be more severe north of the Border because of lower income levels compared to parts of England.

The OBR also confirmed the policy would be likely to raise an average of £1.6 billion a year. However, it also said there could be an increase in costs of about £300 million associated with the higher number of pupils in the state sector.

The BBC said the ISC is hoping for a judicial review of the government's policy, which will focus around claims of breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The action will be brought around Article 14, the prohibition of discrimination, and the first protocol of Article 2, the right to education.

The ISC informed its members of its plans to take forward legal action, in an email to private schools on Thursday afternoon.

The group says its legal claimants will be parents who argue they cannot find an alternative education for their children in the state sector, and are likely to include families with children with special educational needs.

ISC chief executive Julie Robinson said they “will be defending the rights of families who have chosen independent education, but who may no longer be able to do so as a direct result of VAT on their fees”.

“We continue to ask the government to work with us to mitigate the risks of this policy on specialist arts education, on low-fee faith schools, on small girls’ schools and on children with Send,” she said.