Private school VAT case dragged back into court
The parties involved in legal action over the VAT decision on private schools have been recalled to court for an extra hearing as the government aims to make a report inadmissible.
At the start of the month, three claimant groups faced the UK government at the Divisional High Court over a judicial review of the Treasury’s decision to change VAT rules on private school fees.
As of 1 January, private school fees in the UK, including tuition and boarding, are subject to 20 per cent VAT, a change announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the Autumn Budget.
The Independent Schools Council (ISC), the parents of children with special educational needs (SEN), and those who operate faith schools then launched legal action to challenge this decision.
The trial went ahead on 1 April for three days, with Lord Pannick KC leading ISC’s application, Jeremy Hyam KC of 1 Crown Office Row leading for the children with SEN, and barrister Bruno Quintavalle leading for the faith schools.
However, parties are now being dragged back in for an additional hearing on Monday afternoon.
The case has been relisted to decide on an issue of parliamentary privilege.
According to James Gardner of Sinclairs Law, the court will hear arguments over “the last-minute objections” by the Speaker of the House of Commons concerning the claimants’ use of the National Audit Office (NAO) report.
The NAO published a report in October 2024 that concluded that the “government needs to think urgently about how its current investment can be better spent”, given that SEN children cost £10bn a year, and demand is set to continue increasing.
The lawyer stated that “no objection was raised by the speaker or by the government” to the claimants’ reliance on the NAO report.
However, he stated that at the start of the hearing, “the Speaker suddenly announced a concern about the NAO report but said that it would not be a problem if the government were not challenging the use of the NAO report.”
Gardner added that the claimants “have made clear the underhand conduct of the government in raising no concerns whatsoever throughout the entire proceedings and then jumping on the bandwagon right at the end”.
The hearing will occur today (Monday) at 2 pm in front of Lord Justice Newey and Mr Justice Chamberlain.