Labour's private school plans may cost army sergeants thousands in extra fees

LABOUR'S pledge to tax private schools could cost mid-ranking soldiers an extra £3,000 a year and jeopardise troop retention just as the prospect of conflict increases, it was warned last night.

Parents serving in the armed forces who are deployed from post to post can claim the Continuity of Education Allowance , which subsidizes 90 per cent of boarding school fees to a cap of £8,600 per term.

With a child of army parents having typically attended six schools by the age of 11, the CEA offers educational stability and pastoral care in one location for their senior school years.

As such, it is viewed as an important tool to ensure soldiers with years of experience behind them remain in the armed forces when children come along.

Some 4,210 children supported by the MOD and 514 children supported by the FCDO are provided funding by the government under CEA each year.

Though available to all ranks and services, it is Sergeants - the backbone of the British army who earn around £40,000 a year - who use CAE the most.

Labour’s policy to remove VAT exemption from private schools means all parents who send their children to one will see fees effectively hiked by 20 per cent.

This means that a Sergeant Major on a salary of £41,000 with two children at a mid-level boarding school costing £13,000 a term, may have to find an extra £2,000 every term - or £6,000 over the course of the academic year.

Mark Taylor, a former major in the Royal Dragoon Guards, can trace his family’s military heritage back six generations, with ancestors having fought in both the Battle of Waterloo and the Charge of the Light Brigade.

“My father was posted in Germany with a tank regiment and he certainly could not have afforded for me to go to boarding school in England without the CEA,“ said Mark, who is now bursar of King's School Canterbury.

“We have some of the best boarding schools in the world which provide the most wonderful pastoral care, and CEA is seen as one of the great benefits of a military career where salaries are not generally high. They need to make service life attractive. It is an important factor which goes through the minds of many soldiers and officers.”

Labour’s plans threaten army numbers at a time when Britain’s small army of 73,000 cannot afford any gaps, he said, adding:“The trajectory is clear. To be able to ensure there is stability and support for military children at a time when things are getting pretty challenging globally is vital."

Situated on the edge of Salisbury Plain, Dauntsey’s School has more than fifty military families on its books.

“In the 12 years that I have been here, and despite the downsizing of the army and drawdown from Afghanistan and Iraq, the number of military families we have had has not really changed,“ said head Mark Lascelles

“Most of the military children that reach us at the age of 11 have already been in six or seven schools in their short lives. What they really need is stability.”

According to studies, as many as 20 percent of all private school children may be forced to leave, adding 130,000 pupils to the already overstretched state school system.

"We have some very good state schools around Salisbury, and I can tell you that they are full, so where will these children go?" said Mr Lascelles.

Last week shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry admitted the prospect of thousands ofparents being driven from independent schools because of the tax hike would result in even larger classes.

Mr Lascelles added: “Labour claims to be the party of the Armed Forces. If they did have the Armed Forces’ backs, they would look after Armed Forces families."

“Labour claims to be the party of the Armed Forces. If they did have the Armed Forces’ backs, they would look after Armed Forces families." Mark Lascelles, head of Dauntsey's School, near Devizes , Wiltshire

This means either exempting military families from VAT or increasing the CEA allowance by raiding cash-strapped Ministry of Defence's coffers to make up the difference.

Last night Julie Robinson, General Secretary of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), said: “Moving from school to school leaves its mark on children, and sometimes the posting is somewhere where it is not safe to bring your family. Parents who serve the Crown need access to boarding schools and to know the fees will be covered.

“What we want is an exemption from VAT for children for military and diplomatic families who are supported by the CEA.”

Independent schools pump £5bn into the economy, and save the taxpayer a further £4.5bn a year by educating children to no cost to the state. With many private school being forced to close, critics say the idea will end up costing the state money.

Labour leader Keir Starmer says he will use the tax revenue to find 6,500 new maths teachers across the state school system.

But a shortage of maths teachers in the pipeline has put a question mark over where the teachers will actually come from.

Last night Labour sources confirmed there were no plans to exempt military families from the tax hike, suggesting that it may be up to the MoD and FCDO to absorb the rise from existing budgets.

Julie Robinson added: “It is parents who will have to carry this burden. There is already a stereotyped assumption about the types of people who send their children to private schools, and it now risks being applied to military families also."