No new law on private school charitable status
27 Jun 07
Education Secretary says issue one for Charities Regulator OSCR
The Scottish Executive does not intend to legislate further on the charitable status of private schools.
In a letter to the Scottish Council for Independent Schools (SCIS), Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop said she had no intention of changing current charity rules with regard to independent schools or any other charities. She said that despite reports to the contrary, as an opposition MSP she had never argued for independent schools to lose their charitable status and that the issue was now up to the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR).
Judith Sischy, director of SCIS, said the organisation was glad that the government's position had been clarified and she was confident independent schools would be able to convince the regulator that they met the necessary tests.
The High School of Dundee is one of eight bodies from various sectors taking part in a pilot programme with OSCR as the regulator reviews which currently registered charities meet the tests for charitable status under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.