SNP helps a boarding school

When the SNP announced it was to end charitable business rates relief for private schools – which can save them 80 per cent of the bill – some welcomed the move as a triumph in the battle against inequality. It was, they insisted, simply a question of fairness.

So they may be surprised to hear that the Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has given advice to an allgirls boarding school in Perthshire, Kilgraston, on how to avoid paying the extra tax. No one is, of course, suggesting that Mackay has done anything wrong and “tax avoidance” is such an ugly expression. He has simply pointed out the school could apply for rates relief to the local council after Education Secretary John Swinney, who just happens to be the school’s local MSP, wrote to him. It’s the sort of advice a friendly accountant might have provided for free.

What might be suggested is that, behind the scenes, perhaps some in the SNP realise that many private schools actually do good work in their communities. And that measures which increase fees will mean some pupils have to leave, adding to the cost of state education.