Bridget Phillipson MP

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said issues facing schools struggling to survive as a result of Labour’s VAT plans are partly result of their own business choices.

Phillipson told Sky News: “Private schools are businesses that can make choices about how they manage their budgets, the level of fees that they charge, and ultimately, it’s about how attractive they are to families in terms of the numbers of students that are sent there.

“We have seen private schools in recent years whack up their fees year on year, way beyond inflation, and that has priced out lots of people.

“And I think what we’ve seen with some of the examples that are being discussed are schools that were already experiencing big budget shortfalls, weren’t attracting the same numbers of students that they might like to attract, and that’s what’s driving what we see here now.

“Our plans to impose VAT on private school fees are about driving high standards in our state schools.”

Phillipson did however recognise that there should continue to be a private education sector saying: “I want private schools to be an option for those parents who choose to send their children there. Of course, they will be able to continue to do so. I know that parents want to do what’s right by their children, and that’s absolutely as it should be, but I would just gently point out that 93% of children in our country go to state schools.

“That’s where I’m determined to focus my efforts as secretary of state, to tackle some of those big gaps that we see opening up, where it comes to outcomes for our young people, making sure that the background that you’re from, the town that you’re born doesn’t determine what you can go on to achieve.

“And that does involve making political choices about how we raise money, how we spend money, and that’s what imposing VAT on private schools is all about – driving up standards in our state sector, where the majority of your viewers will send their children to school.”