Wealthy private schools must continue community outreach schemes like bursaries and sharing facilities once VAT is charged on fees, Bridget Phillipson has said.
Some private schools are planning to cut back on bursaries for poor children, and may raise the cost of using facilities such as swimming pools in response to the Government’s VAT increase, according to the Sunday Times newspaper.
But the Education Secretary hit back at the concerns raised by headteachers.
“I don’t accept that,” she told Times Radio.
The Education Secretary said: “Some of them have got very large incomes and actually a relatively small percentage of that income going towards bursaries.”
She added: “That list in the Sunday Times had some very wealthy schools with significant assets and big levels of income who aren’t putting a huge amount of that money towards bursaries and support in terms of partnership working with the state sector.
“Changes around VAT should not and must not impact on the work that they are doing around bursaries. There is an expectation of course that that would continue.”
From January, the Government plans to remove the VAT exemption and business rates relief for private schools to enable funding for 6,500 new teachers in state schools.
MPs have previously raised concerns that the extra cost could lead parents to withdraw their children from the private sector, and place more pressure on state schools.
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