King's Speech: Lomond School to lose VAT exemption

The school, and hundreds of others like it across the UK, will have to start adding VAT to the fees it charges for pupils' education under a key plank of the new Labour government's plans for the coming year.

Labour's plan to remove the VAT exemption currently given to private schools was one of the most eye-catching pledges in the party's manifesto ahead of the July 4 General Election, in which the party won a landslide victory.

Labour's proposals for the next year in government were set out by King Charles in the House of Lords on July 17.

But Lomond School remained tight-lipped on the potential impact of the move on the school's finances; when approached by the Advertiser, a school spokesperson said only that a sector-wide statement would be issued in due course by the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS).

Helensburgh and Lomond's constituency MSP, Labour's Jackie Baillie, said the previous Conservative government at Westminster and the current SNP one in Edinburgh were to blame.

Ms Baillie said: “The reality is that the Conservatives’ mismanagement of the economy and the SNP Scottish Government’s mismanagement of public services will leave tough decisions to be taken by the new Labour UK government.

“We know Scotland’s education system was once the envy of the world, but now children are struggling with maths, reading and science.

King Charles set out Labour's plans for the coming year in the House of Lords on July 17. (Image: Kirsty Wrigglesworth/PA Wire)

"There is insufficient support for children with additional special needs, and the poverty-related attainment gap has remained stubbornly high under the SNP.

“We know that high-quality teaching and support will make the biggest difference to education, which equips our children for the years ahead, and they should leave school with the skills they need in work and life.

“One of the tough decisions we face is the need to prioritise additional investment in the state sector.

"We can no longer afford to do that by subsiding private schools.

“That is why the UK Government chose to end the VAT exemption for private schools, to invest in the state school sector and improve education for the many."

Labour's plan to abolish the VAT exemption for private schools was raised in a question during the General Election hustings in Helensburgh the week before polling day, when it was suggested that as many as one in three pupils at private schools would be moved into the state sector, which would then struggle to cope.

Lib Dem candidate and former area MP Alan Reid said the pressure would be felt most by smaller and less well known private schools, while the Conservatives' Amanda Hampsey claimed state schools were "bulging" and shouldn't have to cope with the extra pressure of an influx from private schools.

But Brendan O'Hara, since re-elected as MP for the area, said funding for state schools was more important. And Westminster austerity was behind the pressures on education.

He told the hustings that "we are facing a future of further austerity", and said that only those who were "off their head" or very wealthy believed that further austerity was the right way out.

He added: "Children in this town are going to school hungry, and that's the real disgrace, not taking 20 per cent VAT on private pupils."

Mr O'Hara has been approached for comment following the King's Speech.