Emails reveal civil servants wanted to review wider issue of charity status before revoking private schools' charity rate relief
Civil servants wanted to review the charity status of private schools before it was decided to take away their charitable rates relief.
Emails released through a freedom of information request reveal that the Scottish Government wanted to look at the wider issue of charity status for the independent schools sector before deciding to revoke their preferential rates.
The emails also reveal Scotland’s charity regulator outlined fears of creating a “two tier” system which would undermine “the charity brand” if private schools lost charitable rates relief.
Last December, as part of the Barclay Review, Scottish ministers decided to take away charitable rates for the independent sector on the reasoning that state schools do not qualify for rates relief.
However in the lead up to the decision, the emails show civil servants wanted to push for a review of charitable status and amend the charity act to do so.
“If the real issue is whether these organisations should be charities in the first place, this would be better addressed by looking at, and potentially amending, the charity test in the 2005 charity act, rather than subjecting them to what is essentially a financial penalty,” the documents state.
A briefing by OSCR on the Barclay Review warns that revoking rates relief for the schools could create two classes of charity, undermining the definition of charity status.
“There is a sense in which there is a de facto devaluing of the charity status of certain groups of charities that currently have charity status,” the briefing states.
“Allowing the creation of a two tier charity sector, and ultimately maybe more layers, would be messy and could be damaging to the charity brand.”
John Edward, director of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, who strongly opposed the changes, said: “We told the Barclay Review and the government that singling out independent schools would run contrary to the charity test the Scottish Parliament created and would set independent schools aside from all other registered bodies for no sound legal, political, educational or economic reason.
“The charity test for Scottish independent schools is the strictest in the world and schools have worked incredibly hard over twelve years to meet that test.”
Organisations including the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations have long called for the charity status of private schools to be reviewed.
However, a Scottish Government spokesman said charity law would not change.
“We will continue to engage with the sector as we finalise the detail of our proposals, subject to which we intend to bring forward primary legislation to deliver this change by 2020,” he said. “This will allow time for those schools affected to plan ahead.”
