To think that Eton is being a bit cynical in offering to share some of its sports facilities with the local state academy?

[Shinyshoegirl]

Today's paper reports that Eton is offering free use of some of its 27 cricket pitches and its Olympic standard rowing lake to a local state school. Surely if they were really concerned about helping educational achievement for all they might consider sharing some of their teaching resources instead? I've nothing against cricket and rowing, but it seems like a token gesture towards their charitable responsibilities. Or am I being unreasonably cynical?

The provision of education is of public benefit. The Charity Commission seems to have ducked out of testing that in court which is a bit of a shame but it means the private schools should be fine as they are.

Charities providing opera have had the same worries - might have to bus people in from council estates and give them free tickets as benefiting one type of person apparently might not count - may have to benefit a lowerclass of person or something to pass the tests. All good fun and like a lot of Labour legislation it doesn't really work. Shades of the hunting ban.

Anyway there is not much concern now.

Inertia - you are working from a false premise (or at least a highly arguable premise) - which is that independent schools gain financially by having charitable status.

It's my firmly held belief that this bears much closer examination.

If independent schools were to charge VAT on school fees, then they would also be able to reclaim their input VAT on all the maintenance etc. The net cost would be far less than 20% to the parents. There are the intangible benefits as well. We wouldn't have all the ballyhoo whereby lefties seem to think they are being done out of something, and independent schools wouldn't have to share their facilities.

Every child has an entitlement to education, that education will cost roughly £5k per year per child. It would be entirely reasonable to make parents entitled to this sum by right - either by attending a state school, as a voucher for use in an independent school, or for home-schooling purposes. Much fairer IMO.

Xenia - The main shade of the Hunting Ban as that is an equally trivial issue