Lord Lexden:

Moved by Lord Lexden

25: Clause 5, page 5, line 39, leave out “for whom an EHC plan is maintained” and insert “with special educational needs and disabilities, as defined in the Children and Families Act 2014”Member's explanatory statementThis amendment seeks to expand the exemption of schools beyond those catering for EHCP pupils, to all those wholly or mainly organised for SEND education.

My Lords, Amendment 25 has the support of my noble friend Lord Black of Brentwood. We are both profoundly conscious of the importance of the contribution the independent sector of education makes to providing for children with special educational needs and disabilities. I hope the Government also recognise this important contribution and will join us today in paying tribute to it.

One-fifth of pupils in independent schools receive SEND support—a significantly higher proportion than in the state sector. The small schools, which are so numerous in the independent sector of education, are ideal places for such pupils. They thrive under the careful, compassionate supervision of their dedicated teachers and the staff who support them. Many of these schools, cherished by pupils and parents alike, are members of the Independent Schools Association, of which I am president, giving me an interest, which I declare.

The continued success of these schools needs to be safeguarded at a time when SEND provision in the state sector is in crisis—a crisis which will not be relieved for some time through the plans for significant improvement that the Government are quite rightly making. Everyone hopes that the Government’s plans will eventually succeed, but arrangements are needed of the kind for which this amendment provides.

Amendment 25 would help safeguard the future of independent schools that specialise in SEND provision, which are so badly needed in our country today. Under this amendment, an independent school that has 50% or more pupils with a registered SEND need would retain its charitable rate relief. The Government say that such relief must be confined to schools with some 50% of pupils with education, health and care plans. That is the wrong dividing line. There are nearly 100,000 pupils with a registered SEND need in independent schools whose parents do not want or, in many cases, have been unable to get an EHCP, which is notoriously difficult to acquire, since a long and often expensive obstacle course awaits those who apply for it.

In Committee, the Minister was at pains to stress that the majority of children with special educational needs have those needs met in state schools. Of course that is so, but it is wrong to neglect or diminish the crucial extent to which independent schools supplement the state’s provision, working in the spirit of partnership which is the predominant characteristic of the independent education sector today.

Without this amendment, invaluable SEND schools can be expected to find themselves in grave difficulty or will be forced to close. I beg to move.

My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 26, in the name of my noble friend Lady Barran, to which I have added my name. I support all the amendments in this group, especially Amendment 25 from my noble friend Lord Lexden, who put his case so powerfully. It is shameful that the Government refuse to recognise the extraordinary role that independent schools play in the care of those with special educational needs. If, even at this late stage, they do not agree to the modest suggestions put forward by my noble friend, they will stand charged with putting the interests of party dogma ahead of the needs of some of the most vulnerable in our society.

I declare my interest as chairman of governors at Brentwood School, president of the Boarding Schools’ Association and Institute of Boarding, and, for this group, chairman of the Royal College of Music.

When I spoke in Committee on the issue of gifted arts students, I made one simple point: in an economy that is flatlining, the creative economy is one of the few areas of sustained economic growth with unlimited potential to expand even further. It provides hundreds of thousands of jobs, is part of a huge export market and contributes billions in revenue. We should nurture it, not attack it. Music, as well as being a huge British success story in its own right, powers it by supporting so much of its rich tapestry, including film, television, computer games, drama, advertising and so on. In turn, its future depends absolutely on first-class music education in schools, conservatoires and universities, providing a pipeline of talent into the sector. Without that continuing education, and new musicians and new teachers entering the profession, music dies. It is as simple as that: no pipeline, no music.

But music education—where it all starts—is in real crisis. I acknowledge that this began under the last Government, but we have yet to see any signs of change, despite the new Government having been in office nearly 10 months. From primary schools right the way through to the end of full-time education, music remains under threat as never before.

With music education already in such crisis, why on earth would the Government want to make matters even worse by jeopardising the very real achievement of specialist music, dance, choral and drama teaching in independent schools? The amendment from my noble friend reflects the success and importance of the Music and Dance Scheme schools and their unique contribution, and that of our leading choir schools, to artistic life in this country. Nearly 1,500 pupils—the stars of tomorrow—receive means-tested bursary support to attend renowned specialist performing arts schools which are the envy of the world. Their position is already under threat because most parents are now charged VAT on their fee contributions, with only a small number receiving increased funding to offset it. That is bad enough, and we should not pour fuel on the fire.

This amendment is based on a proposition that is very simple for even the most dogmatic of minds to understand. The future of these schools, which are already facing such pressure, and their continuing ability to provide world-class teaching can be made more secure if they are protected from full business rates. The Government say that their entire agenda is focused on growth, yet here we have a policy that is absolutely anti-growth. Even on the number one item on their agenda for this Parliament, their opposition to independent education is so all-consuming that they are prepared to jeopardise it on the altar of ideology. I hope that even now the Government will see the strength of these arguments and accept my noble friend’s amendment.

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendments 27 and 29 in my name, and I declare my interests in sport as set out in the register. I thank the Minister for his sympathetic response to my amendments in Committee, our subsequent conversation and the clear personal priority that he attaches to sport, particularly for disadvantaged communities, and the way it can bring them hope and opportunity in life.

There was a time when this Chamber had many contributors to any debate that impacted the world of sports policy. One notable absentee, who retired from the House three years ago, is my noble friend Lord Coe, and I am sure that the whole House will want to take this opportunity to wish him well as he seeks election on Thursday to become the first British president of the International Olympic Committee.

I made my case for these amendments in Committee. Both amendments highlight the lifeline received by many of our top sports men and women who have benefited from the sports bursaries and scholarship policies of independent schools. Today I also make the case for the widespread community use of the many outstanding sports facilities of independent schools, the expertise of their coaches, their support staff and the groundsmen and groundswomen who coach and support their pupils and offer their facilities and services to local communities through dual-use campaigns. Amendments 27 and 29 would provide protection for schools where 10% or more of students receive sports scholarships or bursaries and separately would discount all sports facilities from schools’ business rates.

These proposals reflect the commitment of independent schools to spreading opportunities in sport through fee assistance schemes and public benefit partnerships, including sharing facilities and coaching staff. Sporting opportunities are a key focus for some independent schools, and sports awards form part of the £1 billion in fee assistance delivered by independent schools in the last academic year. What is really important is that more than half the money is means tested, ensuring that support is targeted where it is most helpful, yet the imposition of VAT and the increase in the minimum wage and national insurance contributions are now compounded by the proposed imposition of business rates. Schools will inevitably have to cut back to balance their budgets, and the casualties will be the opportunities for sport and recreational activity for many dual-use local community clubs after school hours.

In moving the first of my two amendments, I drew the Committee’s attention to the contribution that independent schools make to elite sport as well. At the Olympic Games in Paris last year, 33% of Team GB’s medallists attended independent schools. At Tokyo in 2021, 40% of Team GB’s medallists attended independent schools. At Rio in 2016, it was 31%. At London 2012, it was 36%. Yet only 7% of our children go to independent schools, so top Olympians and Paralympians are more than four times more likely to have been privately educated than the UK population overall because of the bursary and scholarship policies on offer.

Let me give the specific example of Millfield, which delivered 13 of the 14 Millfield-educated and trained British athletes on Team GB through its means-tested financial support mechanism. The school funded 13 of the 14 Millfield-educated and trained British athletes on Team GB for the Paris Olympic Games, who between them brought home seven Olympic medals and one Paralympic medal: four gold, three silver and one bronze. All received means-tested financial support from the school during their time at Millfield, but how can that continue? Where will the money come from when the Government themselves predict a significant fall in children going to independent schools and urge those independent schools to make major cuts to their budgets? Where will the scholarships and bursaries be paid from?

For me, and I am sure for the Minister, the tragedy behind the figures I have just given is the reality that there are so many talented young people in our state schools who are capable of representing the country at national and international level, but whose talent is never recognised or developed and who have no access to good sports facilities and good coaching and thus miss the opportunities that every country in the western world that we compete against provides. This is not a party-political point. The role of sport has dropped down the political agenda over recent years. We continue to lose playing fields, and on 10 March the Government announced that Sport England will be removed from the list of statutory consultees on planning applications that impact playing fields as part of a broader overhaul of the planning system, raising additional concerns about the impact on sport and physical activity in the communities at large.

It is a tragedy that more than half of children aged between 16 and 18 are now estimated to be doing no school sport. Swimming is in crisis: 30% of children cannot swim 25 metres unaided when they leave primary school, a 7% increase from 2017-18. More than 400 public swimming pools have closed since 2010, and a third of primary schools now deliver 10 or fewer swimming lessons to pupils before they leave. The many children who have accessed independent schools’ facilities at the cost of those independent schools will now find that those independent schools have to make significant savings. I agree wholeheartedly with the Prime Minister, who last year bemoaned the fact that children were being locked out of emulating their heroes due to the lack of PE provision.

I fully appreciate the Minister’s genuine commitment to helping sport wherever he can. He has urged me not to push my amendments to a vote, and I will not do that this evening because I hope that the House will at least bear in mind the arguments that I have made when we come to the next group, when I hope that colleagues from across the Chamber will seek to remove Clause 5 and protect the likes of Millfield and all independent schools that are putting their facilities to good use through bursaries, scholarships and community use of their sports facilities, which otherwise would be threatened by further cuts.

My Lords, I will speak briefly on these two amendments. I come from the Blair school of thought on this matter, in that if we make our state schools as good as they possibly can be, private schools will be considerably less and parents may choose, for all the reasons that have been given, to go to a state school—but the noble Lords, Lord Moynihan and Lord Lexden, both had wise words.

I remind the noble Lord, Lord Lexden, that several years ago he asked me to visit a school in Shropshire. It was a very special school that helped, supported and taught children with severe dyslexic problems. Interestingly, it was so good that local authorities paid for children to go to that school. I think there were probably about 300 or 400 pupils there and a particular programme. I was absolutely amazed. I contrast that to what is happening currently with special educational needs. We have a crisis, as we know, in special educational needs. We have parents having to go to arbitration, where 98% of those parents win their case and are put on an education, health and care plan. We know that schools are not able to cope. We know that local authorities are not able to cope. Are we seriously suggesting that we aggravate that problem by ensuring that more and more children and young people from private schools go into that system? I think we have to get our system right first, before we burden the state system with even more children with special educational needs when we cannot cope.

I was interested in the noble Lord’s comments about sport and swimming in school. He is absolutely right: it is shameful currently. We seem to be football obsessed, but we are not obsessed with other sports. In Liverpool, you can find plenty of football pitches, and we have a 50-metre swimming pool, but if you try to find netball courts, hockey fields, or a place to play lacrosse, for example, it just does not happen. We need to be able to cater for all children. I remind the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, that Katarina Johnson-Thompson won a gold medal in the youth Olympics as well as in the world championships, and she came from a state school.

My Lords, I shall speak briefly on these amendments. The best way forward is probably Amendment 30 in the next group, which is a cleaner way of dealing with this. I would sit a little uncomfortably with the idea of placing additional financial burdens on schools, although I understand the rationale that the Government have put forward for these changes.

The concern is that any analysis that has been done, particularly from the financial point of view, might suggest that this is perhaps a more minor element of the changes that are proposed as regards independent schools. However, there is a grave concern that the cumulative effect of this change, along with the national insurance and particularly the VAT contributions, is likely to lead to the closure of a number of schools. This is not unprecedented; I have seen it happen through various changes in other parts of the United Kingdom. As such, while this is perhaps the smallest element of those three changes, it could potentially become the tipping point for a range of schools.

Let us deal specifically with the two main amendments in this group: Amendment 25, from the noble Lord, Lord Lexden, and the amendment on sport in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan. There has been an explosion in the number of young people diagnosed with special educational needs throughout the United Kingdom, and there is much greater pressure, sometimes for very virtuous reasons. For example, we see that some children with particular physical disabilities, who many years ago would, sadly, have had a very low life expectancy, are now able to live into adulthood and, indeed, live a full life. That is something for us all to celebrate. However, there has been a massive increase in the number of children with special educational needs.

For many years, my part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, has tended to have much higher levels of special educational needs, and there may be an argument that other parts of the country are almost playing catch-up with Northern Ireland. But I can give your Lordships an indication that we should not be naive and believe that we will reach a plateau as regards those with needs that have to be catered for. Even in Northern Ireland over the last five, 10 or 15 years, those numbers have gone up and up, and there is no doubt that that situation will be replicated in the different parts of the United Kingdom.

With this comes increasing pressure to find appropriate educational settings for those many children. Again, judging from my experience, within the state sector that creates increasing pressures, where schools that perhaps have not been doing so before are having to provide specialist classes. The local authorities—in Northern Ireland’s case, the Education Authority—are having to scramble around to try to find where they can provide additional facilities.

In the Northern Ireland context, there is not a sizeable independent sector, but particularly in England the independent sector plays an important role in providing a level of specialist support for many of those children with special educational needs. It provides a certain level of safety valve in reducing the pressure within the system. I doubt this is the Government’s intention, but if we inadvertently create a situation where a number of these schools are forced to close, that will ratchet up further pressure within the state system at a time when we are already facing a tsunami of pressures, as has been identified by a number of noble Lords. The VAT exemption put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Lexdenm seems to be a sensible way forward, because the placing of that additional burden, which will almost inevitably lead to further closures, will be counterproductive to our young people as regards special educational needs.

Similarly, although the case is perhaps a little less acute as regards sport, accusations can be made of Governments of different political persuasions, over many years and decades, who have not been able to provide the level of sporting facilities in this country that our young people merit. We all glory in the great sporting triumphs of this nation, but, quite often, such triumphs have occurred in spite of the facilities in place rather than because of them.

Going back many years to Prime Minister John Major, he spoke of the need to open up fields and sporting facilities, but there was not the level of success that we should perhaps have seen. It strikes me that, if we do not have some level of exemption for our sports fields when it comes to rating purposes, we are simply accelerating the process by which many of those facilities will become no longer viable.

When schools find themselves in financial difficulty, it is about seeing what assets they have and what they can get rid of. Sport, unfortunately, is quite often seen as an extra and as an easy thing to cut, but that has a detrimental impact. What particularly persuades me towards the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, is that it ties this in with community use. These facilities should not be castles shining on the hill, to which no one can gain admission. The partnership that should always be there between schools and the community must be at the heart of what we seek to do, no more so than in the issue of sport.

As such, whatever the Government’s intentions in relation to these changes, without some level of amendment, either through this group or the group beginning with Amendment 30, we will be taking a retrograde step, for both sports and special educational needs.

My Lords, I will speak to my Amendments 26 and 28 in this group. I also support Amendment 25. in the names of my noble friends Lord Lexden and Lord Black of Brentwood, and Amendments 27 and 29, in the name of my noble friend Lord Moynihan.

Amendment 26, in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Black, raises again the issue of schools that are wholly or mainly concerned with providing full-time education for gifted arts students, such as those who are part of the Government’s Music and Dance Scheme. My noble friend rightly pointed out the importance of this group of students for our economic growth. They are students who attend an independent school based solely on their natural talents, and whose parents, where they are on a lower income, are means tested.

This was debated at length in relation to the imposition of VAT on these schools. The Government need to show, first, that they understand the issues that face such schools and their pupils, and, secondly, that they want to preserve these globally respected and admired institutions, without which our country would be much the poorer.

In his letter to me, for which I thank him, the Minister pointed out that there will be no impact from the increase of VAT on the fees paid by parents. To be clear, my understanding is that that is just for this academic year; if I have misunderstood, perhaps the Minister could clarify when he comes to speak.

I believe that my point still stands: the parents of gifted children whose income is means tested will pay more in future for their children’s education because of the VAT changes beyond this academic year and because of the changes proposed in the Bill. That risks excluding some of our most gifted children from the education that they need to realise their potential.

Amendment 28 tries simply to bring consistency to the way that nursery schools, including those with charitable status, are treated for business rates purposes. I confess to being confused by what the Minister wrote in his letter to me on this point, so maybe he could clarify this. As I understand it, the Bill specifically excludes nursery schools from the definition of private schools in new sub-paragraph (4)(a)(iii) in Clause 5(2). In Committee, the Minister said:

“For clarity, private nurseries that are on their own hereditament are not within scope of the Bill definition, and where they are charities they will retain charitable relief”.—[Official Report, 27/2/25; cols. GC 550-51.]

However, in his letter of 17 March he writes:

“The government’s view is that it would not be proportionate to exempt parts of hereditaments within private schools used as nurseries in this way because standalone nurseries—whether they are charities or not—do not currently receive the same benefit, and the government does not intend to introduce a general exemption for early years provision”.

I hope he can see why I am confused. Those two statements appear to conflict with each other. If he is not able to clarify that now—and I appreciate his position—then maybe he could clarify it again in writing.

When reading the Bill, I had assumed that in this case the Government were concerned about nursery school and childcare capacity, hence the carve-out for stand-alone nursery schools, but this carve-out does not apply if the nursery school is part of a wider independent school. I respectfully suggest that that neither meets the common-sense test of consistency in applying this legislation nor shows any understanding of parental preferences. Clearly, if you have older children in a school, you would ideally send your child to a nursery in the same school, for practical reasons. Can the Minister clarify whether stand-alone nurseries, with and without charitable status, will be subject to business rates, and whether those with charitable status will retain charitable relief? If the answer to the first of those is no but the second is yes, my amendment retains its merit and should be addressed by the Government.

Amendment 25, in the name of my noble friend Lord Lexden, seeks to amend the Bill so that schools that provide education for children with special educational needs, as opposed to just those with an education, health and care plan, will still receive charitable rate relief. As the Minister knows, this issue has been raised at every stage of the Bill, and the points have again been put eloquently today by my noble friend and the noble Lords, Lord Storey and Lord Weir.

Amendments 27 and 29 are in the name of my noble friend Lord Moynihan. Again, my noble friend very strongly put the case for dual use, both by the community and through the provision of bursaries, to allow our most talented athletes to train in what are currently the best school facilities. I ask the Minister to think again about why the Government, rather than urging independent schools to do more in terms of community work and the provision of bursaries, are choosing to pull the rug. I hope he will say that he is going to think again on these issues.

My Lords, these amendments seek to amend the definition of a private school so as to require different types of private school to be carved out of the Bill measure, or to require parts of private school hereditaments to be exempt from rating valuations. I thank the noble Lords, Lord Lexden and Lord Moynihan, and the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, for their contributions.

I shall speak first to Amendments 25, 26 and 27. Amendment 25 would result in the exemption of a private school if that private school catered wholly or mainly to pupils who had special educational needs, as defined under the Children and Families Act 2014, regardless of whether those pupils had an EHCP. Amendments 26 and 27 would carve out private schools that provided full-time education wholly or mainly to gifted arts students or persons in receipt of bursaries or scholarships for sporting excellence.

The Government are aware of the concerns raised in respect of pupils with special educational needs in private schools that may lose their charitable relief because the school is not concerned wholly or mainly with providing full-time education to persons for whom an EHCP is maintained. Similarly, the Government have listened carefully to representations made by all interested stakeholders more broadly with regard to the design of the policy to remove charitable relief from private schools. The view was reached that, with the exception of the existing carve-out in the Bill for private schools concerned wholly or mainly with full-time education for pupils with ECHPs, no other private schools would be carved out of the measure. That is the fairest approach, as it ensures that the impact on pupils with the most acute needs is minimised.

The Bill provides that private schools that are charities that are concerned wholly or mainly with providing full-time education for persons with an EHCP remain eligible for charitable rate relief. In practice, the Government believe this will ensure that most private special schools will not be affected by the Bill measure. In fact, we expect any private special school losing charitable relief to be the exception—potentially, in single figures. In addition, private schools that currently benefit from the existing rates exemption for properties that are used wholly for the training or welfare of disabled people will continue to do so. This general exemption means that they do not pay any rates at all.

I know that some concerns have been raised about the possibility that some mainstream private schools may be just under the 50% threshold for the EHCP carve-out within the Bill. In private schools, including private special schools, just 5.7% of pupils have an EHCP, with the majority of those pupils in private special schools. We therefore expect there to be very few mainstream private schools near the 50% threshold. The majority of children with a special educational need, with or without an EHCP, are provided for in the state sector. If an EHCP assessment concludes that a child can be supported only in a private school, the local authority funds the child’s place. The approach chosen in the Bill is targeted to ensure that the impact on pupils with the most acute needs is limited. This Government are committed to reforming England’s SEND provision to improve outcomes and are providing an almost £1 billion uplift in high-needs funding in the 2025-26 financial year.

I shall speak in more detail to Amendments 26 and 27, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, and the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan. I set out in Committee the changes that the Government are making to the Music and Dance Scheme, which supports pupils from lower-income families to attend one of eight specialist arts schools. On the question that the noble Baroness asked, no decision has been made on the future of the scheme. I acknowledge that the scheme is not available for every private performing arts school in England, but I am aware that many performing arts schools, as well as specialist sports schools and private schools more broadly, choose to provide fee assistance as part of their business model.

Providing means-tested fee assistance is one way that charitable private schools can demonstrate public benefit, a requirement that accompanies charitable status. The Bill does not remove the charitable status of private schools, and the Government expect private schools to continue to demonstrate public benefit. It is a commercial decision for individual schools to determine how they meet any additional costs as a result of the Bill measure, but the Government do not expect activity demonstrating public benefit, such as providing fee assistance, to significantly reduce.

Amendments 28 and 29 are concerned with requiring parts of private school hereditaments to be exempt from the rateable value of that hereditament. Amendment 28 would require parts of private school hereditaments wholly or mainly used as nursery facilities, or areas primarily used by nurseries, to be exempt, while Amendment 29 would require private school sporting facilities, or areas used primarily for sport, to be exempt if those facilities are also made available more broadly to the community.

The Government have decided that where private schools provide for compulsory school-age children and have nursery classes within the school on the same hereditament, the presence of nursery-age children should not remove the school from the business rates measure. This approach best ensures consistency with the policy intent. The allocation of any additional costs as a result of the Bill measure in private schools that also provide nursery classes is a matter for those schools.

I acknowledge that the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, has sought to find a middle ground following the Committee debate, but to exempt parts of hereditaments is challenging. This is also applicable to the amendment from the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, that seeks to exempt sporting facilities. My remarks are applicable to both circumstances.

Noble Lords will recall that I said in Committee that I would take away the question of exempting parts of private school hereditaments, particularly in the context of sport. I have done that, so I hope noble Lords present will acknowledge that this has been looked at carefully. There are a very limited number of circumstances in rating where part of a property is exempted entirely. These exemptions are the most generous forms of support in business rates and are currently reserved for cases such as agricultural land, places of public religious worship and property wholly used for the training or welfare of disabled people.

To exempt—to totally remove from rating—parts of hereditaments within private schools used as nurseries or for sports would not be proportionate. Stand-alone nurseries and sports facilities, whether they are charities or not, do not currently receive the same benefit, so to exempt them when present in these particular private schools would create a broader inconsistency in the rating system.

Furthermore, whether part of a hereditament can be rated differently is not straightforward and depends on the facts on the ground. The key principle is that a property at the same site, in the same occupation and used for the same broad purpose is treated as one hereditament. That is why nursery classes and sports facilities on the same site as a private school, and operated by that school, do not have their own rates bill. The Government have carefully considered this and are of the view that to treat separately parts of private school hereditaments used as nurseries or for sports would not be merited in this case.

Business rates are a property tax and, to clarify the position for the noble Lord, Lord Weir, are applicable only to England, as devolved Administrations have their own approach to business rates. Where a property is being used as a private school, even if that school may have nursery classes or sports facilities, it remains a private school property. Amending the basis on which fee-paying schools can retain their charitable rate relief in the way these amendments propose would undermine the Government’s intention to remove tax breaks for private schools in order to raise funds to support the more than 90% of pupils who attend state- funded schools.

Before I finish, I want to echo the words of the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, and give my best wishes to Lord Coe in his bid to be elected the first British president of the International Olympic Committee.

I hope I have reassured noble Lords regarding the reasons why I cannot accept the amendments in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, and the noble Lords, Lord Lexden and Lord Moynihan. I hope they can take from my remarks that the Government have considered the cases they made carefully, and I respectfully ask them not to press their amendments.

My Lords, in accordance with the custom, I thank all those who have spoken in favour of the amendments in this group. A powerful case has been made for exempting independent schools with charitable status in respect of certain parts of the valuable work they do, such as special needs education, music and sport. It is an utter tragedy that the Government cannot see that case.

I note that, in the course of his remarks, the Minister said not one word of appreciation for and thanks to the independent schools for the enormous role they play in the education system. It may be 7%, but it is a very important contribution. With that, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment 25 withdrawn.

Amendments 26 to 29 not moved.