HOLYROOD’S education convener has called for the charity regulator to investigate possible moves being considered by independent schools to reduce bursaries in the future for pupils from less well off backgrounds.
James Dornan, the convener of the Scottish Parliament’s education committee, said children from less wealthy households should not be penalised if the schools have to find money to pay for business rates’ changes.
His remarks came after Finance Secretary Derek Mackay told MSPs on Wednesday he had been informed independent schools were considering offering less support to children from less wealthy backgrounds in the future as a response to his plans to remove their eligibility for relief from non-domestic rates.
Responding to the development, Dornan told The National: “If what the Cabinet Secretary said to the committee is accurate then clearly I would expect Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) to investigate seriously the fact private schools are looking to make children from less well off backgrounds to pay for the changes rather than finding the money out of their profits.
“The key part is there are certain criteria private schools have to meet to get charitable status and the fact they may have to pay a bit more in rates, does not make them less responsible for meeting the criterion they have to meet in order to have charitable status.
“One thing they should not be doing is making the poorest in our society pay for their business rates.”
His comments came after Graham Simpson, the Tory MSP, told MSPs on Wednesday that more children could be sent to state schools if private schools increase their fees because of the planned reforms.
But Mackay disagreed saying that families who chose to send their children to fee-paying schools could afford any rise in fees.
Removing private schools eligibility for charitable relief from non-domestic rates is in response to a recommendation made by the Barclay Review of the business rates system and does not remove the charitable status of independent schools.
However, to have charitable status independent schools must meet a number of requirements, which include giving bursaries.
Mackay told the local government committee removing eligibility for charitable relief on business rates would mean a cost of £225 per pupil to the sector.
After the policy was announced in draft budget last month Liz Smith, the Scottish Conservative’s education spokesman, said bursaries would be cut.
“For a party supposedly in favour of widening access this move will make independent schools more elitist and less accessible to those from poorer backgrounds. That will be met with dismay by those parents whose sons and daughters have been in receipt of increasingly generous bursary support,” she said.
John Edward, director of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, said: “There is no need for an investigation as nothing has happened. People who think schools are going to reduce bursaries have got the wrong end of the stick.”
An OSCR spokesperson said: “Bursaries and other ways of helping with the effect of fees charged are among a number of factors we have taken into account when looking at the public benefit provided by fee charging schools. Information on this can be found in our Meet the Charity test guidance. We cannot give any view on what the effect of a reduction of bursaries would be in a particular case — that would depend on the overall picture of evidence in that particular case.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel