Public Schools: Charitable Status

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town Excerpts

Tuesday 28th June 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The noble Lord is right: we want to encourage partnerships. That is why the ISC’s 2016 census has included an expanded set of questions about partnership. These data will be shared in aggregate and non-attributable form with the Charity Commission, which over the summer will carry out research into independent school engagement with partnerships, working across sectors, so that we can learn from best practice and see exactly what is going on.

[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)]

My Lords, when we debated the Charity Bill, as a result of our amendments the Charity Commission agreed to look at this issue, because public schools have charitable status only by virtue of providing benefit to the public. Can the Minister give us an update on the Charity Commission’s review, which it undertook to conduct as a result of our amendments, and let us know what its current thinking is?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I will need to get back to the noble Baroness about that review if it is not the same as the research that I have just mentioned— a report that will be produced over the summer and then published. I know that the ISC and the Charity Commission have encouraged independent schools to disclose in their annual reports the nature and detail of their public benefit, working through partnerships and collaborative projects. But I will write to the noble Baroness if I have not answered her question.