Parents concerned for rising school fees in Maidstone

It comes as the government have subjected private schools to 20% VAT

Transcript

00:005, 6, 7, 8

00:03Even when it's all comes crashing through

00:07At MEPA Academy in Maidstone, creativity is at the heart of everything.

00:11But some parents are now having to get creative to afford their children's school fees.

00:16Since the start of January, independent schools have had to pay VAT at the standard rate of 20%,

00:21ending a long-standing exemption.

00:24For headmistress Mandy Ellen, this has been challenging.

00:27We're a small school, we're independent, and the type of students that we have here

00:31are the students that struggle in mainstream school.

00:34So we have working class parents that are doing everything they can

00:39to pay for their child to come to our specialist school,

00:42and a specialist in performing arts.

00:44So I already know how hard it is for the parents,

00:48and then to have the VAT on top,

00:52I just knew that some wouldn't be able to cope with it.

00:56Most fee-paying schools in Kent are not passing on the full cost of VAT onto parents.

01:01The schools we surveyed are increasing fees by an average of 13.6%.

01:06Polling shows that the majority of the public supports Labour's decision

01:09to end the VAT exemption for private schools.

01:12But the schools themselves, and many opposition MPs, say it's unfair to tax education in this way.

01:17I've had a large number of letters and emails about the VAT increase,

01:23not just about the principle of it, which is wrong, but also about the rushed implementation,

01:27bringing it in in the middle of a school year in January.

01:30Well, this idea that the government has that they're going to take the money

01:33and use it to support state schools, I mean, firstly, that's not the way government finances work.

01:38You don't hypothecate a tax and pay for a particular thing with it.

01:41No taxes work like that.

01:43Back at NEPA, Mandy will have to face the music for now.

01:46I would have to close the school if I had to absorb the VAT.

01:51So I have had to add it on to every parent, unfortunately.

01:56The government said its mission is to break down barriers to opportunity

01:59and ensure every child has the best life chances.

02:02Eimear Murrow, KMTV.