Just wait and see.
I cannot believe a labour Government will actually implement everything asap.

In reply to Peter Stanway:

As for independent schools again,wait & see. Not all independent schools are charities. I know one well that gets all it money from local authorities so VAT would be shooting themselves in the foot.

In reply to Peter Stanway:

Peter Stanway said:

Not all independent schools are charities. I know one well that gets all it money from local authorities....

Eh? Some SEN children can get funded to attend a specialist indy school... but can you please clarify?

In reply to Steve Bridger:

Well spotted Steve
There are specialist SEN etc schools that take the children who have been excluded from school and PRU.
Charity may be a deceptive words but there are plenty of schools who do not take fees from wealthy parents.

The parties in the next week or so will publish their manifestos. That will give us a reasonable indication of what legislation they may seek to introduce. Labour have highlighted a number of things that are likely to be in theirs. Then they need to get elected. Then they need to decide what's really important. So we are a long way from knowing what or indeed when changes will happen. I am sure when the manifestos are published teh CIPD will produce some sort of summary

labour.org.uk/.../

In reply to Keith:

We also need to wait to see how large the majority is for the next government.

All manifesto pledges should be read starting with the phrase "In an ideal world we would ......"

It seems pretty inevitable that VAT will be a reality at some point in the next 18 months in independent schools. The ISBA conference I was at last week suggested that an April 2026 date had been mentioned, but it could be much sooner. I think all independent schools will be preparing on that basis. The impact on the sector will be wide - costs are rising everywhere (utilities, salaries, TPS), and adding 20% on top will mean that a lot of parents have to make different decisions about their children's education. I think at least 9 schools have closed in the last couple of years. Whatever your politics, it would be wrong to think that the sector will look the same in 5 years time.

Regarding teacher pay, the STRB which recommends pay for the state sector normally reports in the summer, and they have indicated that they won't report now until after the election. That leaves things very late for any school that uses it as a benchmark (and indeed for the vast majority of teachers who won't know their pay from September until the summer holidays).

The other key area will be on changes to dismissal and re-engagement I suspect - where organisations are going through difficult times and may need to make difficult decisions, I wonder how the proposed changes will impact on the need for flexibility?

Definitely quite unsettling during this period of uncertainty, but at the same time not surprising. Clarity will definitely help everyone!

Good luck.

Nina