A group of private schools, pupils and their parents have lost High Court challenges over the imposition of VAT on school fees.
Several schools, children who attend them and their parents, previously brought legal action against the Treasury, claiming the policy of applying VAT to fees is discriminatory and incompatible with human rights law.
This includes children and families at faith schools, and families who have sent their children with special educational needs (Sen) to private school.
The Treasury defended the challenges over the policy, which was introduced on January 1, with HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Education (DfE) also taking part.
Three judges at the High Court dismissed the three challenges in a decision given on Friday.
Dame Victoria Sharp, Lord Justice Newey and Mr Justice Chamberlain said in a 94-page decision that while the legislation does interfere with some of the group’s human rights, there is a “broad margin of discretion in deciding how to balance the interests of those adversely affected by the policy against the interests of others who may gain from public provision funded by the money it will raise”.
During a hearing in April, Lord David Pannick KC, representing one group of children and their parents, previously told the court in London that for some children currently in private schools their needs are not met by state schools, but the new law applies “irrespective” of a family’s need.
The High Court was told that as well as religious beliefs and SEN, some children are privately educated because of a need for a single-sex environment because of previous abuse, or because they are only temporarily in the UK and need to be educated in line with their home national curriculum.
Bruno Quintavalle, representing four small Christian schools and parents who have sent their children to them, also previously said the “ill-thought-out proposal introduced in haste” placed parents in “impossible positions”.
However, Sir James Eadie KC, representing the Treasury, HMRC and the DfE, said abolishing the VAT exemption for private school fees was a prominent feature of Labour’s manifesto at the last general election and is expected to yield between £1.5 and £1.7 billion per year.
