Boarding schools join forces in bid to show their value to Tayside

EDUCATION: Rates rise concern sees city university called in to prepare report

Boarding schools in Perthshire have commissioned a Dundee university to demonstrate the contribution they make to the Tayside economy, as they brace themselves for a £5 million tax raid.

Kilgraston, Strathallan and Glenalmond, plus Morrison’s Academy, the private day school in Crieff, have joined forces with Abertay University academics to produce an Economic Impact Survey (EIS).

The EIS was commissioned in the wake of strong signals from Finance Secretary Derek Mackay that he intends to press ahead with a Barclay Review recommendation to end business rates charity relief for independent schools.

The study aims to show how much money they bring to their areas at a time when independent schools are worried about impact of rates rises. Independent schools warn the tax hike will force up fees. Parents would then be forced to take children out of private schools placing extra burden on the state sector, it is claimed. The EIS will update a study carried out in 2005 which showed Perth and Kinross private schools accounted for a quarter of all boarding pupils in Scotland and 6.8% of private pupils.

In 2005, 586 jobs were attributed to the schools and in Bridge of Earn, home of Kilgraston and Strathallan, 23.5% of employment was connected to private schools. Annual spend on salaries was £14.5m, with private schools showing a collective £24.7m turnover. When the “Tayside multiplier” was applied, the additional indirect and induced effect on the local economy was £13.5m.

The EIS is being carried out amid concern about recent private school closures in the area.

Kilgraston headmistress Dorothy Macginty said: “To this worrying backdrop is the recent announcement that the Barclay Review recommended the implementation, in 2020, of the imposition of business rate tax on the independent school sector (ISS).

“Kilgraston, Strathallan, Morrison’s Academy and Glenalmond College felt, therefore, it was vital for the ISS to have current, indefatigable facts that demonstrated, unquestionably, the importance of the sector, particularly in more fragile, rural economies.

“Therefore, the schools decided to commission an updated EIS.”

The schools felt it was vital for the ISS to have current indefatigable facts that showed the importance of the sector. KILGRASTON HEADMISTRESS DOROTHY MACGINTY

Kilgraston School in Perthshire was involved in producing an Economic Impact Survey.