V.A.T, in school fees

I heard on the TODAY programme Radio 4 that the state education system subsidises independent schools and a number of them "hide behind" charitable status. Don't know if this is true. But I think the suggested policy has as usual not been thought through...

It's just another example of how the poor are being targeted Ana there was a time we had a caring society, where the poorest were looked after. It's gone now.

I apologise - I was thinking back to my single-parent working days when children automatically qualified for free school meals if the family income was under a certain amount.

I'm still not sure that free school meals for all are the answer though. My GC only like certain offerings and take packed lunches on the other days. Can't be worse than the scoops of solid mash with grey lumps we had to put up with though...

Sorry Ana misread the name. Need to put my glasses on! Worth reading anyway.

x post with trisher. Please read the link which trisher just posted for a fuller explanation of what I've just posted. Frank Field is right.

Ana Just wanted to clarify something. Poor unemployed families are eligible for free school meals, but poor working families usually aren't eligible. It's an anomaly and one which should be changed. That's what I meant pages ago about changing the criteria for claiming free school meals.

You like Frank Field Annie read what he had to say about it
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-working-parents-lose-out-on-free-school-meals-9747550.html

Where did you read that Fitzy? The other side of that argument is that if wealthy parents sent their children to state schools they might make more of an effort to make sure they're well funded.

State schools receive about £5,000 per pupil.It's nonsense to state that private schools are saving the state that much - maybe it would if they received the £35,000 that some private schools charge.

But you still had enough left over to pay your bills. Why is it so difficult to accept that the majority of people just do not have money left over for school fees after paying for basics?

By the way, the majority of children at my local independent school are from overseas or boarders from outside the area. Very few locals are daft enough to send their children there, when the local comp achieves better results and offers a wider curriculum, despite not being able to expel the disruptive ones.

I read an article today with another view - that rich people should all be made to pay for private education so as to take the load off the state!

trisher, poor working families are already entitled to claim free school meals for their children.

dd you clearly live in a very affluent area if a second rate school is charging £19,000. I know what the fees are because I am paying them for a highly rated school in the north and no I do not earn over £50,000 a year, I prioritised.

suzied it would help poor working families who struggle to make ends meet and often are forced to use food banks. Healthy food is more expensive.

ninny but that's part of the problem - it's not promising anything thought through or meaningful let alone 'the earth'

suzie I agree with you - this is just not a coherent policy is it? A coherent policy would identify that the school's budget needed increasing, it would identify priorities within that budget and then identify where extra funding was coming from eg by cutting other budgets, by bringing in tax increase - one of which could be VAT on independent school fees or taking away their charitable status. I just really can't believe the political stupidity of this particular proposal with no evidence base or figures etc

Labour would have to win an election first, you can promise the world when you are in opposition.

Why they are banging on about free meals when school budgets are being hit beats me. I suppose Labour would aim to increase funding? if so, why don't they say so? I don't think this is a vote winner. Just because a child is poor doesn't mean that he/she will not get fed properly at home. Its the inadequate /neglectful parents who give their kids a bag of crisps or a mars bar for breakfast who are more of a worry. Sorry, that is going off on a tangent and not answering the question.

Oh dd - you know very well that there is no thread in this world that cannot be used to have a go at JC??

harrigran The average day school fees are just over £16,000. The second rate one in my town charges just under £19,000 a year for day pupils. At the risk of repeating myself, 80% of all households with children at independent schools have an income above £50,000,which places them in the highest earning 10%. Advance payment is a tax scam. Second hand clothing might save a bit, but it's nothing compared with the fees and extra charges for music lessons, etc.

I know it's intuitive to think that providing free school meals is the best way to ensure that all children are well-fed, but it isn't. It's an ineffective use of scarce resources and needs further investigation, even according to the report the Labour Party has cited. At worst,it risks diverting money from those who really do need some help. I'm not surprised a YouGov poll would support it. Few people would turn down anything free, but I doubt if the implications were explained to them.

PS. I thought this was a discussion about VAT on private education and universal free school meals for primary pupils, not yet another opportunity to have a dig at Corbyn's personal life!

voxpoliticalonline.com/2017/04/07/labours-new-free-school-meals-policy-is-a-huge-boost-for-the-party-and-for-pupils/

In a yougov poll, 52% supported the idea.
52%. Where have I heard that before?

I never said it was cheap, DS and DIL both work and could not afford the fees.

Jen, I accept there has always the filthy rich, if you believe you and Corbyn will stamp them out you need to get into the real world , it ain't going to I accept dies not mean I think it right or fair, but Jen , guess what - life isn't always fair , perhaps the cushioned think differently though.

Corbyn is an example, very middle class, no shortage of money, wife doesn't suit? Get shot of her and move on the the next , be a pacifist but have friends who kill . Join apolitical party and betray the members, no respect for fellow workers, if they were bombed invite the guilty for tea in the same building as those who survived the bomb. This man doesn't create peace he creates hatred and envy

I think you've justified what was said earlier, someone's expensive is someone else's cheap.
Many people don't earn anything like that. Lots of people can't save anything like that after living expenses.

Private day schools where we live are about £13,000 a year but you get reductions for paying in advance and reductions too for siblings. These schools have excellent uniform shops with affordable previously owned clothing so it is not always expensive to kit the pupils out.

You also support those who think it's okay to be filthy rich, Annie.
Maybe that's the big difference. Some of us want a fairer society.