SOME 10 children have switched to state education in a Welsh county with more than double the national average of youngsters attending fee paying schools.
In September Labour-led Monmouthshire County Council rejected a motion from the Conservative opposition that it should express concern at the UK Labour Government’s policy to charge VAT on private school fees for the first time.
The tax came into force on January 1 and has been credited with helping to push up the UK’s rate of inflation, from 2.5 to three per cent, with the Office for National Statistics saying private school fees had increased by around 13 per cent since the VAT exemption was removed.
At a council scrutiny meeting considering the council’s additional learning needs and inclusion service Tory member Jan Butler asked if Monmouthshire schools were experiencing “pressure” from children joining from the independent sector.
The Goetre Fawr member said: “Nationally there’s been quite a lot of reports in the press about pressures of children coming out from private education concerning fees. Are we seeing that pressure, do we have children coming into our system and coming out from private education?”
Principle officer for additional learning needs Jacquelyn Elias said Monmouthshire doesn’t have a “significant number” of children leaving the independent sector to join the council’s schools and added: “However there is capacity within the system and we would obviously welcome any students coming to join our excellent schools in Monmouthshire.”
Any with additional learning needs would have them identified by the inclusion service with “appropriate support put in place if necessary”, added Ms Elias.
Pressed on a figure Ms Elias replied: “There are probably around 10 that are in the system and I recognise those are children going from mainstream provision to mainstream and there is capacity so it is not a cause for concern.”
Asked, by Cllr Butler, if any of those children have additional learning needs Ms Elias said one child is currently going through an assessment process.
It wasn’t stated when the applications had been made while in September the cabinet member for education, Labour’s Martyn Groucutt, had said the council had received nine applications for pupils to move from private to its maintained schools.
When the Conservative group asked the council to raise concern at the removal of the VAT exemption it also called for it to prepare a plan to “mitigate the impact on Monmouthshire schools” and support children whose education would be “disrupted”.
The motion highlighted that more than 12 per cent of school age children who live in Monmouthshire attend independent schools. Across Wales just over two per cent of children attend independent schools and the UK figure is six per cent.
The Labour-led cabinet had said in September there was capacity in the council’s schools and pupils would be welcomed and benefit from attending them.
However Labour councillor Rachel Garrick said at the time governors have raised concerns over funding.
The Caldicot Castle member, who’d previously served on the cabinet, also highlighted her local comprehensive was teaching some students maths in classes of 60, which it said was in response to a national shortage of specialist teachers.
