00:00Can I talk to you about VAT on private school fees?
00:02Obviously something that you have been in favour of, something that you've pushed for.
00:06You will have seen these independent school council figures.
00:10They are saying that 13,000 pupils have left private schools in the past 12 months.
00:17Now, the government had predicted around 3,000 pupils would leave.
00:21So we're dealing with an extra 10,000 more than the government had predicted.
00:25So in terms of a revenue raiser, this must be a huge concern to you
00:30because you're risking raising absolutely nothing or not very much
00:34and then disrupting a child's education,
00:37pulling them out of the school that they were in with their friends
00:39and also adding more pressure to the state school system.
00:45So just firstly in terms of the figure,
00:47I think we're potentially in terms of those numbers comparing two different periods of time.
00:51But the wider point is that we as a government have made the decision
00:54to prioritise investing in state schools.
00:56That's where the majority of our children go to school.
00:58It's where the majority of your viewers will be sending their children to school.
01:01And what they want is more investment in our schools, more teachers,
01:04measures like the one I'm setting out today around expanding access to free school meals.
01:08That's the difference that a Labour government is bringing.
01:10It's not something you'd be seeing from conservative or reform politicians.
01:13But we have made some choices.
01:15And one of the choices that we're making is to support families, to support schools.
01:18And, you know, I'm afraid I simply don't accept the scaremongering that we've seen
01:23from the private schools lobby.
01:24They've made their case that they're entitled to make it.
01:27But we did set out this policy position a very, very long time ago.
01:30We've been clear about why we're doing it.
01:32And that's to invest more money in our state schools.
01:34So what support have you given to state schools then
01:36to cope with the influx of 13,000 private school pupils?
01:40We, firstly, I don't accept the kind of the wider premise of all of this.
01:47But there is also a change in terms of the birth rate.
01:50So we're going to have fewer children and young people coming through state
01:53schools anyway because of the fall in the birth rate.
01:55I'm confident that schools are able to manage this process.
01:58But I don't simply accept some of the framing around this.
02:01And it is a question, however, of priorities.
02:03Do we prioritise tax breaks for private schools?
02:05Or do we prioritise investing in state education?
02:08And I choose the latter.
02:08I'm sorry, when you talk about the birth rate,
02:11are you mentioning the fact that the birth rate, of course, is plunging?
02:14You're banking on the fact that British people, at least,
02:17aren't just having children anymore and you're factoring that into your plans.
02:20Is that what you just said?
02:23It is.
02:23So we've got falling rules in our schools.
02:25So we've got fewer children moving from primary into secondary.
02:28That's been happening for some time.
02:31And that means that, yeah, we do have a situation where there are falling rules
02:36in our schools in terms of the number of places that are required.
02:38Should the government not be doing more to try and promote the birth rate?
02:41You look to places such as Hungary, where women are being given massive tax breaks
02:45to have more children and start families.
02:47It seems like we're pretty lacklustre in this country.
02:49And it's not just a side talking point.
02:52It's, I mean, if you listen to people such as Elon Musk or whoever,
02:56they'll say it's an existential threat to humanity.
02:58So I want people to make choices about what's right for them in terms of,
03:05you know, family shape and structure.
03:07I do hear from quite a lot of people that they are making choices about family
03:11size because housing costs are high or they're concerned about job security.
03:16And we are taking measures to support families.
03:18For example, the around the expansion of childcare to provide more help for
03:23families.
03:23So that will make a big difference.
03:24And what I'm setting out today around free school meals will do that too.
03:28But I want people to make the decision that's right for them,
03:30not to be driven by economic circumstance.
03:33And, you know,
03:33I do hear from people that sometimes they've made that decision because it's just,
03:37it's just too hard.
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