VAT came up at the DfES SKILL review today.
As far as C&E are concerned there is no chance of this rule being changed
unless DfES ministers take it with with the Treasury.
It seems to me that we are spending a lot of time trying to stop revenue
moving from one department to another to very little benfit to the student.
In most cases the VAT does not push the sums over the limits so it is not in
anybody's interest to spend time on this for the sake of the majority of
students.
If the issue is that LEAs or HEI/FEI can't reclaim the VAT then that is a
different matter.
John Joseph at the DfES told me that LEAs receive additional funds to cover
the VAT on assessments. If this is not the case then LEAs need to raise that
issue with DfES.
HEIs / FEIs can probably explore ways of reclaiming the VAT by arrangement
with their local VAT office.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who can show that adding VAT has
had any material effect on the provision made to any students from the DSA. I
would be happy to pass this on to DfES at the next meeting. Please email
details to me direct.
Mick Trott
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