Education freedom at stake as Christian schools and parents launch legal action against government over VAT tax raid
20 January 2025 Issued by: Christian ConcernChristian schools, parents and pupils have launched an application for Judicial Review over the government’s VAT tax raid on private and independent schools.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, the schools bringing the challenge include the award-winning Emmanuel School in Derby, the Branch Christian School in Yorkshire, the King’s School in Hampshire and the Wyclif Independent Christian School in South Wales.
The claim also includes several Christian parents, and pupils, who are accusing the Labour government of illegally discriminating against them through the policy.
The 13 claimants seek a declaration that the government’s amendment of the VAT Act 1994 is unlawful and is incompatible with their human rights.
The legal claim comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a draft bill on 29 July 2024, which included plans to pass legislation through the Finance Bill for the 2024/2025 Budget which will amend the VAT Act 1994.
Private schools across the country are already beginning to close after the policy began to take effect on 1 January 2025 despite significant opposition and several legal challenges.
Lawyers in the case say the government’s move is unprecedented as education in the UK has never been taxed. They add that the government’s proposed measure fails several key legal requirements and that there is an international consensus that compulsory school education is not to be taxed.
Lawyers representing the latest group to seek a judicial review of the VAT extension say that the measure disproportionately impacts parents, and in particular a set of Christian parents, who have chosen for their children to be educated in Christian schools which have predominantly Christian teachers and cover all subjects from a Christian worldview perspective.
The parents are claiming that the government is breaching their rights under Article 14 of the ECHR the right to protection from discrimination.
One parent bringing the claim, bookseller Stephen White, 40, has chosen to live in one of the most deprived areas of Bradford so that he can afford to send his four children to the Bradford Christian School based in the Yorkshire city.
Mr White, whose 14-year-old son, Josiah, is also a claimant in the case, said: “As Christians, we believe that it is our duty as parents to raise our children in line with our beliefs. This policy denies us this right and choice and must be challenged.”
He says the government’s policy is ‘unjust and ‘discriminatory’ and will force him to home-school his children as the heavy secularisation of state schools, and even Church of England schools, mean that his children would not be taught in line with the family’s Christian beliefs.
He accuses Labour of creating a “caricature of wealthy schools full of wealthy parents”, which is “not the reality”.
‘Looked after children’ impacted by hike
One family bringing the legal claim, who do not wish to be identified, includes a guardian of two children, who currently attend a fee-paying Christian school.
Both children are previously looked after children and have been with their guardian for several years.
The guardian is a former youth worker and full-time carer who gave up working to ensure the needs of the children are met.
For one of the children, the guardian had to previously take legal action against a local authority to ensure special needs education would be funded.
A tribunal determined that a state school could not meet the child’s needs, and an independent Christian school was recommended instead. It still took 18 months to get the child a school place.
The other child in the guardian’s care suffers from anxiety attacks.
The child had struggled with education since the lock down during the pandemic.
Another family includes a single parent of five children who also faces severe consequences if the Labour government continues with the policy.
The mother lost her husband to covid several years ago and three of her children now attend an Independent Christian school.
The parent believes they would be unable to afford the expected significant increase in fees, and fears that the school may be forced to close as many have already done.
‘Pupils not from affluent backgrounds’
Headteachers at four independent Christian schools have also become claimants in the case. They include the Wyclif Independent Christian school in South Wales, which is the only school of its type in the region.
Launched in 1982 by two fathers who wanted to provide Christian education to the area, it now has 200 pupils, but is now preparing to be significantly impacted by the policy.
The Branch Christian School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire is an independent school providing Christian education for children aged 3 – 18 years.
Caroline Santer, is Headteacher at The King’s School, Fair Oak, in Hampshire, which provides high-quality Christ-centred education to currently 231 girls and boys aged 4 – 16 years. She said: “Parents send their children to the school because they want their children to have a Christian education.
“The vast majority of our pupils are not from affluent backgrounds. We have a number of single parent families receiving Universal Credit and most families make huge financial sacrifices in order to send their children here.
“15% of the children enrolled at the school are on our Special Needs Register and are thriving because of our small class sizes and nurturing environment; the needs of these children and families would otherwise not be served in the state sector in our area.
“The school will be significantly impacted by the introduction of VAT and the removal of business relief rates for charitable private schools. The school has no ability to absorb the cost of VAT: this will have to be passed on to parents.
“The introduction of VAT represents an existential threat to the school. We do not have reserves to cover the extra outlay and will have to pass it on to parents. Our parents are generally not wealthy, and we do not know how many will not be able to afford it or who will fall into arrears. As a direct consequence of the policy, pupils have al ready begun to be withdrawn from the school.”
Consequences devastating
Ben Snowdon, Headteacher at Emmanuel School in Derby, an award-winning Independent Christian School which has been providing small group Christian education for over 30 years, said: “The consequences of this policy will be devastating for independent Christian schools and many other low-cost independent schools across the country. It is especially concerning to parents who are not from affluent backgrounds and who have children with special education needs.
“At Emmanuel School we share the government’s desire to ensure that all children have access to high quality education, but we’re deeply concerned that the government’s VAT proposals will hinder this aim.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said: “The government is enforcing an ideology of education without understanding what is happening on the ground.
“The government’s policy will have the effect of removing parental choice and authority from how their children are educated. The devasting impact of this is told through the stories of those bringing this case.
“The government’s policy will devastate the work of brilliant Christian schools that have been pioneered and maintained by dedicated staff working on sacrificial salaries because they believe in Christian education.
“Contrary to the hype, this policy doesn’t level the education field by taxing the wealthy. Instead, it punishes and may force the closure of amazing schools launched on a shoestring and a leap of faith by individuals passionate about children receiving a Christian education.
“Parents, such as Stephen White, do not want to be forced to send their children to secular state schools where their children will be actively encouraged to embrace beliefs and worldviews completely at odds with the Christian faith.
“Stephen has sacrificed so much to prioritise giving his children the opportunity of a Christian education, but now that opportunity is being taken away by the pressure of this policy.
“Labour must row back on this policy urgently. If they don’t, we will continue to pursue every legal avenue in the pursuit of education freedom for all.”
