DEBATES surrounding the charitable status of independent schools across the country have erupted after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced that his government will impose VAT on private school fees to pay for free school meals for all primary school children.

The Labour leader said he had not ruled out removing charitable status from private schools which gives them tax breaks.

Mr Corbyn and his shadow education secretary Angela Rayner visited a children’s centre in Leyland, Lancashire, for the launch of the new policy, which they say will boost the health and performance of all children while ending a “subsidy to the privileged few”.

He said: “It will help all children and the outcomes in the areas where there are free school meals is improved school performances and improved educational attainment.

“Children who are well-fed do better in school.”

All state-educated pupils in the first three years of primary school already receive free meals under a scheme introduced by the coalition government.

Only older youngsters from the poorest families qualify for continued free meals at school.

Private schools have criticised the decision, saying that the move would hit families who are already making sacrifices to send their children to independent schools.

Somerset County Gazette:

Headmaster of King’s College Taunton, Richard Biggs, said: “My view is that this is an ill-thought-through plan.

“It would hit families who are already making significant sacrifices to send their children to independent schools, and who are already, through their taxes, contributing to state education, while relieving the state of the cost of educating their children.

“It has the potential to cause significant damage to this vital, valuable, world-class UK educational sector, one which is of particular importance to the economy of the Taunton Vale area.

“The idea of free meals for all primary children is based on sketchy evidence and seems to me to be a waste of money.

“There are better, more effective ways of using scarce resources to improve education.”

Asked whether Labour would plan to remove charitable status for private schools, Mr Corbyn said: “We haven’t made a decision on that yet, we are looking at that, the issue we are putting forward at the moment is looking seriously at the question of children’s health.

“We are considering lots of things but we have not made a decision on that yet.

“Nothing is ruled out but there are tax breaks that do need to be challenged, including the number of tax havens that are around the world and the policy of the government in cutting corporation tax, whereas we would want to be raising it.

“We are not proposing to close down private schools or private education but we are saying we want to raise money to ensure every child gets a decent school meal, and that is what the thinking is behind this policy.

“We are also challenging the government on the per-capita funding cut that’s taking place in most schools by changing the funding formula which has resulted in the loss of some teachers’ jobs, teaching assistant jobs, and schools sending out ever-more desperate appeals to parents to help them fund core services seems to me completely wrong.”

A similar debate took place at Taunton Deane Borough Council when a motion was proposed that would see a ten per cent donation from Business Rates Relief from the four independent schools in Taunton and Wellington to go towards educational, environmental and recreational initiatives.

Currently, Taunton School, Wellington School, King’s College and Queen’s College do not pay business rates as they are considered to have charitable status, as granted by the Charities Commission.

Cllr Steve Ross, an Independent councillor who tabled the motion alongside Labour councillor Libby Lisgo, said: “This is about creating a dialogue with the schools, an idea to find a way to work with them in a different way.”

Councillors discussed the issue at a meeting in February t in a session that was dubbed a “good” debate that was not divisive. It was agreed in the meeting that the motion was not an attack on the private schools and what they do in the community as it was widely agreed they contributed a lot, whether this was in the form of publicly used playing fields, taster Latin lessons, festivals for primary school children, or scholarships.

Leader of the council, Cllr John Williams amended the motion to take out the set amount of money the schools would need to donate, and instead replaced it with a meeting between two Conservative councillors, one Lib Dem and one Labour or Independent to discuss ideas as to how community benefits may be increased or extended.

Cllr Williams stated that each school is “ready and willing to participate”.

Cllr Terry Beale dismissed the idea of a ten per cent donation for fears it was too “prescriptive”.

Councillors voiced concerns that a six-monthly meeting would achieve very little and could act as just another “talking shop”, to which Cllr Williams said the frequency could be amended if it is seen as necessary in the future.

A letter from King’s College that was read out in the meeting stated: “We fundamentally believe we discharge our charitable duties to the fullest extent and are a hugely valuable resource to the town of Taunton and the wider community, a resource that would be materially threatened by the removable charitable status.”

The councillors agreed Cllr Williams’ amendment and voted to approve the motion in Taunton.