Starmer's stubbornness

Germanshepherdsmum

It can make a difference if a child needs more one to one attention, and believe me a lot of ex-public school men scrutinise cvs to see which school an applicant attended.

So will they give preference to someone from a private school over an other candidate who is more suited to the job?

We should support private schools so that the elitist ideas of some employers are perpetuated?

Didn't that used to be called 'The Old Boys Network' and condemned as unfair and elitist?

Yes MayBee, some will. The old boys’ network is still alive and well.

That isn’t what I said Wyllow. But consider the first point I made about the needs of some children. And I am pro-choice.

I'm not against choice, but numbers at private schools and numbers of private schools are going up.

believe me a lot of ex-public school men scrutinise cvs to see which school an applicant attended

And that is something that’s unacceptable and should be challenged!

TBH even the very words make me nauseous…”ex-public school men”. Vile!

Scrutinising cvs to see which school candidates attended is part of the interview process.
If it’s used to exclude candidates, you’re right, that’s unacceptable, but I haven’t seen that in all the interviews I’ve taken part in.

I have seen it happen in the law. I even saw a cv dumped in the bin because the applicant’s name was Tracy.

Bluddy Hell GSM that’s awful isn’t it! What a country we live in

It’s the way it is in some law firms , which so many aspire to work in without knowing what it’s like on the inside. I was always acutely aware that I went to a state school and didn’t go to university, but I built myself a very valuable client base which I was free to take to another firm and that was where I had the edge over the hooray Henries. More than one way to skin a cat. Hitting your managing partner in the wallet is extremely satisfying.

I disagree with this policy . Madness in my view

Whitewavemark2

This will pass. The VAT will be absorbed, and in a years time it will be business as usual for the private sector.

I am not remotely worried about the 7% they will continue to thrive in their privileged existence and I have no issue with that.

I am however concerned for the 93% because these are the ones that will be our future. These are the future engineers, architects, teachers, artists, creatives, doctors, nurses etc. These are the ones that will oil the countries wheels and are precious to us.

They must be given every chance and opportunity. So, if at the moment the country is in such a mess that their schools are literally falling apart then imv every resource must be given to improve the future generations chances. If that means that the most wealthy pay a bit more towards these people who in turn will make their country a better place - then GOOD.

Absolutely agree. We need improved educational standards for all, not just a few. If private school pupils with an EHCP are exempt from VAT then that is fair. Many pupils in state schools who need EHCPs don’t have them. Since I retired from teaching, funding and assessments for SEN have dramatically decreased. We were just starting to make progress under Blair’s government. The charity status for private schools is an anomaly.

If Starmer is trying to make this token gesture to make a more equal society he’s wasting his time.
The class structure in the UK is deeply embedded.
A friend had to get her child into a private school because the state school told her quite honestly that they could not provide the maths tuition that her bright child needed.
People paying for private education are taking some burden off the state. And most of them are hard working people not all from entitled backgrounds

Chartered accountant here.

Of the total amount that the school bills, 1/6 will be payable to HMRC as VAT.

So a school might have billed £10,000 per annum pre VAT imposition. It could bill £12,000 after the new budget, keep £10,000 and pass £2,000 to HMRC. Or, it could bill £10,800, keep £9,000, and pass £1,800 on to HMRC. Some schools have effectively planned for this by charging above inflation rises over the past few years, so that they can absorb part or all of the VAT in due course.

VAT is charged to schools on some of there costs (not salaries which are by far the biggest). But certainly things like maintenance will carry a VAT cost which the school will be able to reclaim against the VAT it has charged on its bills. It won't be massive, but will reduce overall costs by something in the order of 1-5%-ish.

I think it's probable that the increase in the proportion of pupils that the state educates will cost more than the amount of revenue raised by the VAT. Hopefully, the attendant influx of sharp-elbowed parents into the state sector will help to improve standards there.

I despair at some of the feelings about state education on here! Having taught ages 8-18 over 36 wonderful years of being at the chalk face so to speak, all I can say is that staff in the state sector work so hard to give children a solid foundation in life! Under the last Labour Gov new schools were built, resources were great and improvements were evident! So much of this has gone in the past 14 years! Not one new school has been built here where I live but many concrete building issues !!
I have no idealistic thoughts for the next Gov as all of this supposition will take time to filter down into the existing systems .
Give state schools your support not your sniding on-going criticisms some of you!
In fact this will be my last written post on GN as I get so fed up with the lack of understanding by some of you about the real issues people of our country are facing and DON’T say it is all to do with immigration !!!!
I shall continue to read and smile at comments but will not contribute, not that many of you will be bothered sitting in your ivory towers!

Freya5

Perhaps State schools should aim to bring their standards up to private schools, this will need more financial input, more schools, so smaller classes, more teachers, but hey it's easier to bring hundreds more children into state schools, more overcrowding than already is, for what, it seems is an ideological move, rather than a sensibly reasoned one.

This is part of the plan. Raising money from private education to fund state schools so that everyone has an equal chance. I think it’s a good idea. Why should children at independent schools have a better education than those at state schools?

There was a comment from Michael Gove in this morning’s Times, to the effect that VAT relief on private schooling is akin to giving the wealthiest people in the UK a 20% discount on the fees. As much as l dislike Gove l find that hard to disagree with. There is talk that some private schools will be given state status if this goes ahead, although l don’t see how that would work. I think if it goes ahead the VAT levy should be ringfenced to be spent on improving state schools.

I shall continue to read and smile at comments but will not contribute, not that many of you will be bothered sitting in your ivory towers!

I think you must have misread the many comments on here then, Susieq62. The majority on this thread have explained how they do not live a life ofprivilegedseclusionor separation from the real world of education.
maddyone wrote how she taught in the state system, GG13 told us how a few of her own children went to state schools (as did one of mine), GSM's son too I believe etc etc. No one is criticising state schools or not supporting them.

It's outrageous that private schools have been treated like charities this far They are lucrative businesses. There are already protections that except disabled people from Vat with regards to products and services related to that disability that can be used I'm no fan of the red Tory that Starmer has become but I will take him over Rishi and his many hopeless predecessors who have got us in to the state we are in !

*excempt not except

Why do we keep hoping today's politicians will make sense, be honourable, reliable or efficient? I fear it is a thing of the past. What's more, they largely seem deaf to entreaty, or counter-argument. We can have Tweedle-Starmer or Tweedle-Sunak - no difference.

undines

Why do we keep hoping today's politicians will make sense, be honourable, reliable or efficient? I fear it is a thing of the past. What's more, they largely seem deaf to entreaty, or counter-argument. We can have Tweedle-Starmer or Tweedle-Sunak - no difference.

During the pandemic Starmer voted with the government when it was in the best interest of the country. He says he always put country before party and I believe him.

To get an ECHP is like receiving gold I would think he would be able to help special need school’s because this government has sent this aid to the wall. I’m still struggling with a child in my nursery that’s desperate in need.

Well said marybee70.

Starmer knows better than to put country before party. He will face a challenge from the left wing and the unions are his party’s paymasters. Another instance of saying what people want to hear.