The Labour Party is to use an opposition day motion in Parliament today to try to create a new select committee to investigate independent school tax breaks.
The party has pushed its plan to put VAT on private school fees and has said it would invest the money raised to recruit 6,500 additional teachers.
Opposition days are days allocated in the House of Commons for the discussion of subjects chosen by non-government parties.
Labour will use one today to force a vote on the creation of a new committee on the “fair taxation of schools and education standards”.
It has said that the committee would “investigate reforming the tax benefits enjoyed by private schools and investing the proceeds on a new National Excellence Programme”.
As well as establishing a teacher recruitment fund, it says this programme would create a leadership scheme to support new headteachers throughout their first years on the job, and develop a programme to enable leaders and teachers to access CPD.
Labour challenges private school tax breaks
Labour’s motion will call for the committee to report to the House of Commons by the end of the 2022-23 school year.
Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, said that pitting different parts of the education sector against each other was “not the way” to give the best possible education for every child.
“Rather than continuing to pursue an ideological policy that would not raise the money they claim, Labour should look at fiscally sensible ways of working with independent schools to expand on the good partnership work already being done to enhance educational opportunity for all,” she said.
Speaking about the planned motion, Labour shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson (pictured) said: “Conservative MPs can either vote to deliver a brilliant state for education for every child or they vote against the interests of parents across this country who aspire for better for their children, especially those in the very regions their party pledged to ‘level up’”.
The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.
