Insiders have warned that the recruitment and retention crisis in the armed forces will grow unless the government exempts military families from paying VAT on private school fees.

Sky News understands this More families are voicing their concerns domestically About the Chancellor’s “do no harm” policy after failing to provide adequate protection in his budget.

They say a promise to increase the Ministry of Defense (MoD)-funded allowance that helps cover school fees does not go far enough and that highly experienced personnel (officers and other ranks) will resign if they leave the job. Rachel Reeves He doesn’t make a U-turn.

Insiders say such a loss of capability would weaken Britain’s defenses at a time when threats are increasing.

A soldier who has a child in a boarding school and who did not want his name to be disclosed said, “I will have to leave the military service because I cannot cause my child to go to another school.”

He said: “On the one hand, the Chancellor wore a poppy during the budget announcement and then dealt a damaging blow to members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces by not including a simple exemption.”

The soldier’s wife, who wanted her identity to be protected due to her husband’s military service, said, “These are the children of the nation. These are the money in the nation’s pocket.”

He told Sky News: “If there’s a good job offer outside the army…it’s going to look a lot more attractive than it did a few months ago. The army is in a recruitment and retention crisis, so why would you do that?” Something like this?”

Giving an idea of ​​the scale of the potential impact, the Federation of Military Families, an independent charity, said around 70% of families who shared evidence with it about the policy said they would consider leaving the service without protection from the full cost of VAT. .

The hectic nature of military life – postings in the UK and abroad – often requires service personnel to move around every few years, moving in and out of different schools with the children they have to carry with them.

To guard against this disruption, some parents decide to send their children to private school, often to boarding school.

More than 2,000 of these personnel, mostly in the military, are requesting money from the Department of Defense to help cover private school fees.

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Continuing Education Allowance (CEA) covers up to 90% of tuition fees, but families must pay at least 10%.

Many who choose this option will still struggle with the affordability of what they will have to pay – which can run into tens of thousands of pounds a year.

They will now have to pay more to cover the VAT on this part of the bill or pull their children out of school; This is a nightmare option, especially for those working abroad.

In addition, some military families who cannot benefit from the education allowance allocated according to very strict criteria prefer to send their children to boarding school in order to continue their education in one place.

They will not be protected from any VAT burden.

Shadow defense secretary James Cartlidge said he had received a number of messages from affected families and was urging the government to grant them exemptions.

“The emails I’m getting say: I have to choose between my child and serving my country,” said Mr. Cartlidge, who previously served as defense minister for the Conservative Party.

“The government needs to respond to this really quickly.”

A Ministry of Defense spokesman said: “We highly value the contribution of our serving personnel and provide the Continuity of Education Allowance to ensure that service personnel’s mobility needs do not impact on their children’s education.

“In line with the normal operation of the allowance, the Ministry of Defense will continue to pay up to 90% of private school fees following the VAT changes on 1 January, increasing existing cap rates to account for any increases in private school fees.”