The Liberal Democrats will consider exempting colleges from VAT, the party has said in its manifesto, which was released recently, that reiterates pledges to give every adult at least £5,000 towards training and widening the apprenticeship levy. The manifesto confirmed several other policies already outlined by the party, such as increasing college funding per pupil above the yearly rate of inflation and creating a new ‘lifelong skills grant’ for every adult. Its only new pledge for FE appeared to be a “review” of further education funding to see whether colleges could be exempted from VAT, which would benefit them by an estimated £200 million per year. Click here for a breakdown of the Lib Dem manifesto by FE Week.
