Bradley Thomas
MP for Bromsgrove · Conservative · United Kingdom
“Does my hon. Friend agree that is perhaps the most corrosive consequence of all? Businesses have all the pressure that is bearing down on them, and so many are telling me that it is just not worth it.”
“We know that higher-level apprenticeships are now out-earning the average degree, according to the Centre for Social Justice. The right qualification at the right time can alter the trajectory of an entire family for generations, but we must also be honest that warm words alone will not create a single apprenticeship place, and with level…”
“It would: scrap real interest rates on plan 2 student loans so that balances can no longer rise faster than inflation, saving graduates tens of thousands of pounds over the course of their careers; create 100,000 more apprenticeships for 18 to 21-year-olds by lifting funding caps and supporting employers with up to £5,000 for every Britis…”
“That aspiration is welcome, but aspiration without delivery does little for young people looking for an apprenticeship today or for the small business struggling to recruit for today and tomorrow.”
“That is why I am proud that the previous Conservative Government introduced T-levels, degree-level apprenticeships and the apprenticeship levy, and put English and maths at the heart of all vocational qualifications, helping people to climb up the ladder of opportunity and fortify their careers with the in-demand skills that businesses ne…”
“This is long overdue, and so I congratulate the Prime Minister on bringing this forward and for the tone in which he has delivered it. I would like to raise the case of Jenny and Scott, two constituents who I have been supporting in recent months. They have been fostering a child called Alfie for six years.”
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“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris, and I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies) on securing this important debate. She quite rightly pointed out that a strong private sector that is incentivised to invest is the foundation and cornerstone of the living standards and prosperity that we want all of our constituents to be able to enjoy. Over the last four years, the UK has dealt with a financial crisis, a pandemic, and an energy shock caused by the war in Ukraine. Despite those changes, since 2010 growth has been higher in the UK than in every other large European economy, with unemployment halved and absolute poverty down. When the Conservatives left government, the UK’s was one of the fastest-growing economies in the G7.”
“We have a great opportunity to reduce our dependence on foreign imports and focus on the long term. That is particularly crucial to my constituency. I would like the Government to focus on small businesses and foster a greater sense of individual entrepreneurship at a grassroots level, which would be a massive benefit to constituencies across the country, town centres such as Bromsgrove’s, and rural businesses.”
“To become an attractive destination for inward investment, we need to look urgently at the factors that will determine investment decisions. The tax burden, which rose following the global pandemic and the unprecedented level of support provided by the previous Government, is damaging business confidence through fear that there will be higher taxes after the Budget at the end of this month. We need to focus on incentives for businesses investing in large-scale capital projects, access to skills, a long-term industrial plan for the UK economy that will once again reward investment, and a concerted effort on skills development that will lead to a long-term uplift in industrial resilience. That is critical in a world in which our adversaries seek to gain advantage over us and blunt our economic edge.”
“According to the Office for National Statistics, 55% of respondents to a voluntary business survey about challenges facing the economy felt that their businesses’ performance would stay the same or decrease over the next year. The CBI’s industrial trends survey for September shows that more manufacturers think that output will fall over the next three months than think it will rise. Potentially most critically of all, GfK’s consumer confidence index fell to minus 20 in September, suggesting that consumers lack confidence in the vitality of our economy. In large part, that is due to concerns about tax rises—concerns shared by many businesses. Instead of making the UK a hostile destination for investment, the Government should work to ensure that it is the most attractive destination possible for investment.”
“In response, did the hon. Member not recognise the conditions that the Government inherited on their election in July? It has already been pointed out in this Chamber this afternoon that the Government have been rehashing billions of pounds’ worth of investment that the previous Government secured and are now passing it off as their own. Returning to the points that I wish to make, the new Government have claimed that their election has positively impacted business confidence, but the Institute of Directors’ economic confidence index, which measures business leader optimism about the prospects for the UK economy, continued to fall in September to minus 38, having been minus 12 in August.”
“I will not, as I am about to wrap up. My key asks are for the Government to be less ideological in their pursuit of investment in the UK, and to focus on the long term and on conditions that will ultimately drive businesses’ inward investment decisions. They should focus not just on the large corporates, although they are fundamental, but on promoting grass- roots entrepreneurship and cracking down on regulatory bureaucracy, which gets in the way of business investment decisions.”
“In the light of the increasing geopolitical threats that we face, can the Minister give an update on the adequacy and resilience of the computer chip supply chain that backs up the UK military?”
“Why has the Prime Minister paid back some gifts that he has received since he became Prime Minister but not those he received as Leader of the Opposition? Is there a different standard for Government Ministers and for the Opposition?”
“If Labour will not abandon the education tax I will also suggest some improvements that the Government could make to lessen the impact of the policy on pupils, parents and school staff in Bromsgrove and across the country.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered the removal of VAT and business rates exemptions for independent schools. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Caroline. This debate matters for various reasons. I have always been and will remain committed to supporting education across the board, including our excellent state schools. I want all schools to be adequately funded to present opportunities for children from all backgrounds. I say that as someone who was proudly educated in state schools and who cares about the life chances of everyone. I have secured this specific debate to highlight how Labour’s ideologically driven plan to remove VAT and business rate exemptions for independent schools is an inherently flawed policy.”
“Currently, independent schools’ significant economic benefits include supporting 328,000 jobs, saving £4.4 billion from the education budget, and supporting £5.1 billion in additional tax revenue. They do this while saving the state £4.5 billion by removing the requirement to fund the education of 7% of children as the result of parents exercising this choice. Furthermore, independent and state boarding schools are a unique subset of the schools system, with the additional feature of attracting overseas students to the UK. Some 62,700 pupils are international students in independent schools, making up 11% of the population. This is a key export for the country, adding £2.1 billion to our economy annually.”
“State education must be funded by the state, supported by taxpayers. The VAT exemption encourages greater use of independent education, reducing the number of state school pupils, meaning more money available per pupil in the state sector. The Times recently stated that 71% of parents felt that rising school fees would influence their future decision about independent schooling. Additionally, 26% of parents said they would have to withdraw their children from independent schools if VAT is introduced. An Adam Smith Institute report provides a detailed examination of the potential economic impacts. If 10% to 15% of students transfer, the net revenue could be negligible. Alarmingly, in a scenario where 25% of students switch from the independent sector to state schools, the tax could cost the Government £1.6 billion.”
“Thank you, Dame Caroline. Education is an investment in our future. It is in everyone’s best interests that children are well educated so that they can make an engaged and positive contribution to our society. We do not charge VAT on many types of private healthcare, as that is beneficial when people use their own money to pay for a service that the state would otherwise provide. We do not charge VAT on university or nursery fees, so why should schooling be any different? There are approximately 2,500 independent schools in the UK educating more than half a million children. They are often small schools: more than 40% of independent schools have fewer than 100 pupils according to Department for Education data. The reality is that the policy will not fulfil its aims and will displace children mid-education.”
“That is 20% of the pupils in UK independent schools, which is slightly higher than the state school average. Independent schools help to provide additional value-adding capacity to SEND education.”
“This proposed VAT would be devastating for families like mine.” Another mother wrote to me and said, “We also have a daughter who will need to start secondary school in two years. We had hoped for her to attend the same school as her brother but, with no scholarship likely and the addition of VAT, it is simply impossible. This is a painful realisation, and I worry that she will resent the opportunities that we couldn’t give her (but we could give her older sibling).” We have yet to talk about the impact on special educational needs and disabilities education. This measure will cause particular problems for children who are in receipt of such bespoke education. Nationally, at least 130,000 pupils in independent schools receive SEND support in mainstream and specialist settings.”
“I will not give way. Independent schools should be seen as a British success story, both culturally and economically, instead of being discouraged and punished with the imposition of an education tax for socialist ideological principles. Most importantly, the human impact of the policy is stark. The failure of this education tax will not just be academic or financial; it will have a serious impact on families. One parent wrote to me: “As a widowed single mother who works full-time, I make enormous financial sacrifices to ensure my child can attend the same school from age 3 to 18. This stability is not only essential for my child’s development but also enables me to work and contribute to society.”
“My right hon. Friend makes a valid point, which I will touch on later, and I hope the Minister will address it. Independent schools provide additional value-adding capacity to SEND education, as has been acknowledged, and VAT on fees risks their ability to do that. There is simply not the capacity in the state sector to accommodate all those extra pupils, particularly when SEND services are already under pressure.”
“We are paying a significant amount of money to be able to do this. Adding VAT on top feels like we are being punished twice for having a child that doesn’t fit into the state system, either in mainstream or specialist schools.””
“I agree with the hon. Member. The examples she cites highlight the situation perfectly. The Government have failed to consider that the capacity is not there. We have already seen, in the few months since this Parliament began, several debates highlighting issues of SEND capacity. Another mother wrote to me to outline the benefit that independent schools can have for children with SEND needs: “We moved our autistic child to a small independent school and the transformation was immediate. Classes are small and quiet, and the school is very nurturing and family oriented. It has been wonderful to see her blossom and slowly get more and more involved in school life. We would not have chosen for our daughter to go to private school but there was no suitable state provision available.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend. The comments made by the Education Secretary on Twitter over the weekend epitomise the way in which the mask of this Government is slipping—socialism is revealing its true face—and how reprehensible the policy is. Adjacent to SEND schools, we must consider faith education. This education tax will make independent faith schooling unaffordable for many families, hurting the 370,000 pupils who attend independent faith schools in England according to Department for Education figures. It is important that the House notes that fees at those schools are frequently below the independent school average, and sometimes below state per-pupil funding levels. Often the schools have a suggested fee, but the community supports those who cannot afford the full fee by themselves.”
“I agree wholeheartedly with the hon. Member. We have yet to talk about military and diplomatic families, who need boarding schools to provide a stable education while parents are deployed overseas; 4,700 children are funded by the Government under the continuity of education allowance, which assists service personnel and diplomatic families in educating their children at boarding school.”
“My right hon. Friend echoes the point that I made earlier that this is about not just a service that is provided but a key segment of the UK economy that bolsters the value of UK plc and UK GDP.”
“I will not; I will make progress. Labour committed in the House of Commons in 2023 that armed forces families need not be concerned about proposals to charge VAT. With the current retention crisis in the armed forces, and the current volatile state of world affairs, the Government need to confirm what impact analysis has been carried out on the effect of taxing education on military personnel. We then get into issues around the implementation of the policy. Implementation in January will put pressure on local authorities to find rare and academically disruptive in-year placements. Those will be difficult, as state schools will be full and many will be oversubscribed, with areas that have a high number of pupils attending independent schools having some of the busiest state schools.”
“In the event of academic performance failures due to the disruption caused by transitioning between schools, will academic leniency be granted to students? I also seek clarity on what funding and support will be made available for students with special educational needs who are transitioning between the independent and state sectors. I hope that the House will clearly appreciate that this short-sighted policy will hit hardest those in society who it claims to be supporting, that it will damage the wider education sector as a whole, and that it will worsen academic and social inequalities while being a net cost to society, the education sector and the British taxpayer.”
“I would like the Minister to provide clarity on the following points. Will the Government be issuing guidance for state schools on how to deal with applications from parents, to prevent parents from being asked to prove that they cannot afford to fund independent education? During the general election campaign, the right hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) commented that state sector classes must increase and that they will just have to cope. What assessment have the Government done to determine whether state sector classes have the resources available? When it comes to students transitioning from the independent to the state sector, what provision will there be to prevent disruption to their education in subjects that may not be taught at their new state schools?”
“First, delay the imposition of VAT until September and the start of the next academic year. There has been no proper impact assessment of these policies on state schools, SEND provision or faith schooling; a full consultation and impact assessment is needed before changes are announced. Secondly, assess how very small schools can be protected from VAT and tax changes. They are a vital community resource and charge much lower fees; that should be acknowledged. Thirdly, exempt service families on continuity of education allowance from VAT. Those who rely on independent education to serve our country should absolutely not be penalised. Furthermore, the Government should protect children currently applying for an education, health and care plan, as parents should not be penalised for the delays in the process.”
“I agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. The Government have shown the true intent of the policy over the weekend with the divisive, “us and them” mentality that was revealed on social media. I call on the Government to pause and reconsider this education tax, with a view to abandoning it. It is unethical and will damage a British success story. It will not fulfil its stated aims. The policy will not raise significant money, but is being forced through at the expense of state and independent schoolchildren to further the Government’s divisive ideological agenda that so many in this House have recognised. If the Government refuse to abandon the policy, there are some sensible and practical steps that they can take to minimise the impact that it will have on parents and children.”
“In short, this is a joyless, mean-spirited policy from a joyless, mean-spirited Government, and I think it is evident from the lack of Labour Members present that they probably agree with the sentiments expressed on this side of the Chamber. Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(6)).”
“I thank every single Member who has spoken today in this debate, and I particularly thank the families in attendance who are affected by this policy. We have heard Members talk about the concerns of the impact of the policy on capacity, SEND and simply the element of choice, as well as human stories of how this policy will impact many families and children across the country. I am disappointed that an Education Minister has not attended and instead a Treasury Minister has. The Minister has demonstrated that he can read Labour’s political script but has sadly lacked the courage to answer the points that have been raised in this Chamber. To sum up, we have heard words such as “cruel”, “sacrifice” and “disruptive”, as well as concerns from families that their children’s performance will suffer in schools.”
“4. If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of means-testing for winter fuel payment on people with medical conditions that are exacerbated by cold weather.”
“The Government’s impersonal approach is cold comfort to thousands of disabled pensioners, including Ann in my constituency. She has to boil water to prevent infection and uses an electric nebuliser, and as a result she has high energy usage to protect her health. Can the Minister tell Ann what sacrifices she should make to protect her health this winter?”
“I sincerely hope that as the Government review planning policy over the coming months, they will look closely at all these issues and ensure we have a system that promotes good development in the interests of not just existing communities, but those Traveller communities looking to integrate and settle into our existing and quite often rural communities.”
“That is not just to the detriment of affected communities: it really undermines the integrity of the planning system as a whole. The planning system needs to work better across the board and with public agencies. We need to have a much more joined-up response to how we tackle this issue, particularly the impact of antisocial behaviour and rural crime. Residents and developers must work carefully within green-belt policy in the same way that Traveller communities must. We must get away from this perception that, whether it is because of a retrospective application, just a general disregard for planning policy or even, more broadly, a disregard for the law, people are able to queue jump while providing some of the worst forms of development.”
“Instead, quite often the culture appears to be one in which an action is taken and the sentiment is more of forgiveness being sought, rather than going through the usual process that the vast majority of law-abiding citizens follow—one in which we do our due diligence, put in a planning application, allow for communities and those affected to submit their comments in the usual way and go through the proper planning process. That is what frustrates my constituents the most. They go about their lives in a law-abiding fashion: if they want to put an extension on their property, they will apply for planning permission in the usual way, if it is not subject to permitted development already. There is a general feeling that a small number of Traveller communities—I stress “small number”—appear to ride roughshod over the system.”
“That is all exacerbated by the broken planning system, which needs to work better with local police and other services to allow for a coherent public response, rather than having, as it seems to residents and as I have already mentioned, different public agencies passing the buck between each other, with no one able to get clear answers on where the responsibility lies for tackling the pressures that arise from the emergence of Traveller sites. Those sites are often outside of the conventional planning process where sites are identified, and problems emerge when new sites are bought and a retrospective planning application is put in. The current regulations around the sites do not seem to support a culture in which permission is sought.”
“One important topic, which I saw during my tenure as leader of Wychavon district council, is that many of the Traveller families have children that need to go to school and they want their children to be able to go to school, but there is often a lack of local provision already, which puts an unsustainable strain on services and local amenities across our communities. Those problems isolate communities, which are already remote from the services they access and may have a different social or economic identity relative to the areas they are looking to settle.”
“I am deeply concerned about the prospect of losing that green belt, which gives Bromsgrove its rural identity, including in greenfield sites of the kind I have already described. I fail to see how permitting unplanned Traveller sites on the green belt will do anything to protect the identity and cohesion of the rural communities that exist there. It has already been noted by hon. Members that the sites are often far away from local services, become car-dependent settlements, and suffer from a lack of footways and nearby schools.”
“This case has been stuck in the planning process for many months now, and the delay in any decision is causing significant further uncertainty and the emergence of community tension. It is clear to me that the system as it currently stands is not working for any of the parties involved, but that is in this specific case. I want to put on the record that I know there are thousands of Traveller communities across the country who are law abiding; they want to identify plots of land that they can occupy with their families and wider communities and where they want to integrate into the areas they are looking to settle. I was elected on a mandate to protect the green belt across Bromsgrove, and my constituency was formerly 89% green belt.”
“More importantly, and to the considerable worry of my constituents, in recent months there has been a large upswing in rural crime. That started in a minor fashion with the theft of chickens from a farm and we have seen theft of items from gardens, a massive surge in general antisocial behaviour and abuse of local residents, as well as the emergence of some much more significant elements of crime. As a result, I have engaged with local police and residents to try to tackle that specific issue, but of course the nub of the issue comes back to the fact that a piece of land was bought and a change of use application submitted, and residents are concerned that the system and public agencies often pass the buck.”
“However, there is an ongoing case in my constituency that perfectly highlights many of the challenges associated with planning applications for Traveller sites. Travellers bought land and moved on to a rural greenfield site that had long been designated as amenity land, then retrospectively applied for planning permission. The local community are against the proposal and nearby parish councils have raised serious concerns about the suitability of the site, including poor and dangerous road access, loss of biodiversity, and a significant impact on a long-standing public right of way that runs through the land, where local residents are being harassed with antisocial behaviour and are unable to follow their usual route.”
“I welcome the steps the previous Government took to strengthen the planning system, including passing the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, which extended the period during which enforcement action can be taken against unauthorised development to 10 years in all cases. I also commend the last Government for bringing in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which strengthens powers available to the police to tackle unauthorised encampments that cause damage, destruction or distress. As my hon. Friend outlined, there are many examples across the country where the careful balance between Travellers, local communities and the environment appears to be incorrect. As a Member of Parliament, I do not intend to comment on routine planning applications as they are a matter for Bromsgrove district council.”
“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dame Siobhain. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) for securing this important debate. We need a planning system that respects the rights of the Traveller community but also provides local authorities with the power to support good development, while being able to enforce their planning policy. When I served as a district councillor for 10 years and leader of a district council for five years, I saw the difficulties in securing adequate sites and integrating Traveller communities in areas where they were looking to settle.”
“T2. The Secretary of State has said that she will review her prisoner early release scheme after 18 months, but will she go further and commit to ending it then, and if not, to returning to this House for a fresh vote on it?”
“In the spirit of what my hon. Friend describes, I will cite the example of Betty Webb, a constituent of mine who received an MBE for her work as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park. She is 101 years old. She is a widow who lives alone. She is living in fear not just that the Government will take away the winter fuel allowance, but that in future they will snatch away the 25% single person’s discount on council tax. Many other constituents of mine are fearful of the same thing.”
“Food and energy security are two of the most significant and interlinked contemporary challenges that we face. The Government must remain pragmatic in their efforts to deliver on both, ensuring that in everything they do, they do not worship at the altar of ideological purity and inadvertently sacrifice our own long-term economic success in the process. In the words of A. E. Housman, “The house of delusions is cheap to build, but draughty to live in, and ready at any instant to fall.” I look forward to playing an active role in this House, delivering on behalf of my constituents and in the long-term national interest of our country.”
“While every Member of this House would surely agree that education is the foundation of prosperity, the Government’s proposal to impose VAT on these schools is not only an ill-conceived affront to the children and families who currently exercise choice in education provision but an attack on the wider education system that will undoubtedly do little to enhance the quality of state education and will instead level down education standards across the board. I say that as someone who was proudly educated in excellent state schools. We must also show determination in delivering vocational skills in agriculture, manufacturing, technology, engineering and trades, which will bolster our prosperity, raising our baseline level of industrial resilience in a world where our adversaries want to blunt our competitive edge.”
“The Government must exercise restraint as they seek to create new bureaucracies, which increase the size of the state under the veil of public service reform, and they should be cautious as additional spending, funded through taxation or borrowing without serious structural reform of public service delivery, will fail every stakeholder who interacts with public services. In my constituency, Bromsgrove school, founded in 1553, employs over 600 local people and contributes £43 million to the GDP of the UK.”
“This is critical across Bromsgrove, a place that is 89% green belt and is the rural buffer between Worcestershire and the urban sprawl of Birmingham, to ensure that we protect our green open spaces and do not build identikit monotony all over the countryside, instead focusing on delivering quality homes, with appropriate landscaping and a mix of textures and colours, with genuine local support first. Over the coming years, we must never forget that the single biggest driver of our economic success is a thriving free market—an environment where businesses are incentivised to invest, creating the prosperity that will underpin our national success.”
“Prior to my election to Parliament, I spent many years as a councillor in Worcestershire, including as leader of Wychavon district council, where I championed the importance of design codes and the role of beautiful design in delivering quality communities that inspire a sense of pride, nod to our past and catalyse the economic and social investment that allow our towns and villages to flourish. We must do this by shifting our collective focus away from beautiful design being seen as a cost, and towards seeing it as an investment that pays dividends in the form of thriving communities and vibrant places where aspiration can bloom.”
“It would be easy to be lulled into thinking that Bromsgrove is somewhere quiet and without ambition, but hon. Members must not be fooled. The Sunday Times recently highlighted how South Bromsgrove high school is a powerhouse of aspiration and entrepreneurship, producing young high achievers who have gone on to found leading companies in their sectors, including Gymshark and AYBL. It is in no small part down to the attractiveness of rural Worcestershire that Bromsgrove is a fertile place for aspiration and ambition to bloom. As a Conservative, I believe in respecting the tradition and heritage that anchor our institutions and values, as society evolves to meet the needs of the present day and into the future.”