SOME 10 children have switched to state education in Monmouthshire as tax rises force up fees, it has been revealed

At 12 per cent, Monmouthshire, which includes the newly merged Haberdashers’ Monmouth School, has more than six times the Wales national average of youngsters attending private schools, and double the UK average.

The school says its costs are up by 25 per cent forcing it to raise fees, and has announced further staff streamlining and job cuts.

Meanwhile, numbers attending Monmouth Comprehensive School’s recent open evening for the next academic year’s sixth form were reportedly significantly up.

In September, Labour-led Monmouthshire 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, which came into effect on January 1.

The tax was credited with helping to push up the UK’s rate of inflation last week, from 2.5 to three per cent, with the Office for National Statistics saying private school fees had already increased by around 13 per cent.

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?”

Chief 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 was 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 (Lansdown), 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, compared to just two per cent across Wales.

Labour councillor Rachel Garrick said at the time, governors had raised concerns over state school funding.

The Caldicot Castle member 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.