Taxpayers’ £1m-a-year bill to send foreign aid staff ’s children to private school

MORE than £1million a year of taxpayers’ money is being lavished on sending the children of foreign aid officials to private schools such as Marlborough, Roedean and Winchester, it can be revealed today.

The Department for International Development is footing the bill so the offspring of staff posted abroad can enjoy an elite education at some of the country’s top boarding schools.

And some aid department workers still benefit from the perk even when they have returned to the UK.

Almost £4.3million of state money has gone towards educating the children of Dfid staff at private schools in the past three years, with the bill rising as the department has grown.

Last year, £1.2million went on school fees for the children of 51 staff members, meaning on average they got a generous £23,676 each. Some £133,000 of the bill was for the offspring of UK-based personnel, the figures reveal.

Officials refused to give details of which schools the Dfid employees are sending their children to, but the department has previously admitted they have included Marlborough, Roedean and Winchester.

Dfid last night defended the perk, claiming it was needed to ‘motivate and retain’ aid officials.

Civil servants are entitled to claim for school fees if they are posted overseas for a year or more, but the money continues to be paid on the official’s return if their child has started a GCSE or A-level course.

It means the taxpayer can pay the school fees for up to two years after the end of a posting.

A similar benefit is offered by the Foreign Office to diplomats posted abroad and by the Ministry of Defence to military personnel.

Figures released last week showed that the Foreign Office, which is a much bigger government department, spent £12.7million on private school fees for staff posted abroad last year.

While most Whitehall departments have contended with repeated budget cuts, Dfid has seen its resources balloon thanks to David Cameron’s controversial pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid. John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPay- ers’ Alliance campaign group, last night said: ‘Hard pressed families will be shocked that so much of their money is being spent on perks for employees.

‘These are privileges that UK taxpayers can often not afford for their own children.

‘The Department for Interna- tional Development should think long and hard about how they can bring these bills down in the future.’

Dfid said offering to pay boarding school fees for the children of staff posted abroad was necessary ‘in order to recruit, motivate and retain staff that have the skills and expertise to deliver the department’s work – tackling extreme poverty’.

A Government spokesman said: ‘All Dfid staff allowances are in line with guidelines from the Cabinet Office who set this policy. In a small number of circumstances those working overseas for Dfid for at least 12 months are eligible to receive an education allowance if free education does not exist or is substandard to UK schools.’

Ministers are under pressure to improve how Britain spends money abroad after Theresa May pledged at the general election to keep Mr Cameron’s commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas development.

Critics have argued that it is wrong that the aid budget has spiralled to £13billion at a time when there is a shortage of cash for spending at home.

Last night Dfid would not confirm whether the expenditure on private school fees is counted towards the aid target.

‘Families will be shocked’