International Schools Should Not Be Charged VAT, Say Ambassadors

Children in a school in the United Kingdom on Sept. 12, 2018. PA

The French and German ambassadors have called for international schools to be exempt from Labour’s plan to charge VAT on independent school fees.

The envoys said that the plans could force hundreds of children out of their schools and deter businesses from opening in the UK.

Speaking to The Times on Sunday, German Ambassador Miguel Berger argued that international schools are different because their curricula are catered to French and German education systems. This means for expatriates coming to work in the UK for two to four years and who intend to return to their home country’s national system, “their only option is to go to these schools.”

Berger said that worldwide, Germany has 136 schools and one in Richmond—the Deutsche Schule London—which has around 900 pupils.

“It’s very difficult to make an assessment but we have heard that between 20 and 25 per cent might be obliged to leave the school,” Berger said.

The ambassador added that the German state pays for 30 percent of the school’s cost and covers 50 percent of investments into it, “so there is a lot of state funding that goes into the school. ”

“They are totally distinct in character to normal British private schools and should be treated as such,” the German envoy said.

Suggesting it could impact international relations, he continued: “For the whole relationship, I think it is a very important element. It’s not about getting an exemption, it’s about recognising that these schools are different.”

Berger also argued that not only are these schools important for political and cultural relations, but for inward investment.

“If we want companies to come here to invest, to send their executives, they must know they can send their children to a German school ... to continue in our national curriculum,” he said.

Resetting Relationships?

France’s overseas education network has 11 schools in the UK approved by the country’s education ministry and 30 percent of pupils could be affected, according to Paris’s envoy to London.

Hélène Duchêne, France’s ambassador, similarly said that French parents living temporarily in the UK “don’t have a plan B” because British schools do not follow their home curriculum.

“The number of pupils who could be affected in the UK is 6,300. It is not in line with the reset to our relationship which the British government has instigated,” said Duchêne, likely making allusions to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to “reset“ relations with Europe since Labour won the July 4 election.

The French ambassador added that VAT “could also be an issue for our companies, as they need these schools for employees coming to work here.”

The warning comes weeks after Starmer hosted an International Investment summit, in a bid to encourage economic growth.

Unpopular Plans

The plan to introduce VAT on school tuition and boarding fees from January is unpopular with educators and campaigners, particularly those concerned about the impact the changes will have on special needs pupils and small faith schools.

Children who have Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and who have Education and Health Care Plans (EHCP) issued by their local authorities will be exempt from the changes—but only if the EHCP says a placement at a specific private school is necessary to meet the pupil’s needs.

Earlier this year the EDSK think tank told The Epoch Times that the measures could see parents with SEND children attending independent schools rushing to apply for EHCPs, putting further pressure on councils already facing financial difficulties.

The government stood by its position that parents who send their children with special needs to independent schools will not be exempt from VAT unless an EHCP supports that placement, even if the parents feel private school is their only option to give their child the education they need.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday: “Where children are educated at a private institution because of an Education, Health, and Care Plan, then there will be no change there ... because that’s where a need has been determined through that process. But we have to draw the line, and that is where we draw the line.”

Last week, a Treasury minister claimed that parents may see no actual rise in their school fees, with Lord Livermore saying during a Lords debate that the government “expect[s] that a large number of private schools will take steps to absorb a significant proportion of this VAT liability, so the majority of that fee will not be passed through.”

However, the government acknowledged in an impact assessment from July that the changes “may lead to increased costs for some parents and carers, and that some pupils may subsequently move into the state education sector.”

The Epoch Times contacted the Treasury for comment.