Should private schools be stripped of charity status?
- Yes
- 111
- No
- 99
Holyrood has agreed to gather evidence on whether private schools should have their charitable status removed.
A meeting of the Scottish Parliament's public petitions committee heard claims that the current system, which allows fee--paying schools to reciieve an 80% discount on non-domestic rates, is "unjust".
Campaigner Ashley Husband Powton told MSPs: "This charitable status means that all tax payers, including the poorest, are subsidising the rich and privileged to privately educate their children."
However, Tory MP Jackson Carlaw defended the system, saying it takes 33,000 pupils out of state education and thereby represents a saving to the public purse.
Holyrood has called for evidence to be given on the subject by the charity regulator and council leaders.
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