Tory claims on Labour private schools VAT policy 'destroyed' by new figures

dailyrecord.co.uk:

New figures have “destroyed” Tory arguments against the Labour policy of introducing VAT on private school fees.Edinburgh Council has revealed it has 12,805 spare places amid Conservative claims the tax policy could lead to an exodus and overrun state schools.Labour leader Keir Starmer has said 20 per cent VAT will be added to school fees if he wins power.The revenues will be used to hire new teachers for comprehensives, with Holyrood landing an extra £150m.But critics of the policy claim the tax will be unaffordable to parents on modest means who go private.They claim thousands of pupils will be forced to leave private education, piling even greater pressure on a struggling state sector.In Edinburgh alone, around 25 per cent of pupils are educated at private schools.However, figures provided by Edinburgh council show their state schools are operating under capacity.School roll projections show overall capacity at 65,948 pupils.But estimates for the actual numbers of pupils expected to attend the August 2024 session is 53,143.The figure falls to 52,881 pupils next year.This works out at 12,805 and 13,067 spare places in state schools for the next two years.For August 2024, there is space for another 8,671 primary school pupils and 4,134 at secondary school.The council said none of their 23 secondary schools are oversubscribed for either the 2024 or 2025 projected intake.Of the 91 primary schools, there is one for 2024 that is currently over capacity.A Scottish Labour source said the figures “destroyed” the Tory arguments against the VAT policy.Pam Duncan-Glancy, Labour's education spokesperson, said: “Labour’s plans to scrap tax breaks for private schools will deliver a sorely needed boost to our education system.“To