Voters want special needs schools to be saved from Labour's tax raid

Voters want special needs schools to be exempt from Labour’s planned tax raid on private school fees, a poll has revealed.

While 50 per cent of the public support the plan to add 20 per cent VAT on private school fees, there is little backing for applying it to special schools.

Labour has vowed to exempt children with an education, health and care plan – known as an EHCP – from the fee hike.

But the legal document is hard to obtain, and thousands of pupils with special educational needs do not have one.

Industry figures have warned Labour’s policy will force children with special educational needs and disabilities into state schools, where their needs may not be met.

Now, an exclusive survey for the Daily Mail reveals the public wants all special schools to be exempt from the tax hike.

Some 54 per cent of voters think VAT should not apply to private special school fees – with just 28 per cent saying they should not be exempt.

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A majority of Labour and Tory voters are against hitting special schools with the tax, the breakdown of the poll of 2,047 adults by Survation for the Mail found.

Overall, the survey found net support for the policy at 50 per cent, while 21 per cent oppose it.

Earlier this year, Sir Keir Starmer was confronted by a headteacher of a school which caters for dyslexic children who warned that pupils without an EHCP would be forced into the state sector.

Michelle Catterson, head of Moon Hall School in Reigate, said all of her pupils have a diagnosed special educational need, but 30 per cent do not have an EHCP.

The former chief inspector of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, also warned that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities could be priced out of specialist schools.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said yesterday wealthy private schools must continue community outreach schemes like bursaries and sharing facilities once VAT is charged on fees.

It came after The Sunday Times revealed that some private schools are planning to cut back on offering bursaries for poorer children, and may raise the cost of using facilities such as swimming pools.