Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether free schools will be affected by changes to charitable business rate relief for schools.

The Government is legislating to remove the eligibility of private schools in England to business rates charitable rate relief.

The Government has defined a “private school” as a school at which full time education is provided for pupils of compulsory school age, where fees or other consideration are payable for that provision of full-time education.

Legally, free schools are academies so do not charge fees for education. Therefore, they will not be impacted by the removal of charitable rate relief from private schools.