Robbing Peter to pay Paul?
I read Nathaniel Dye's article (‘What the future might hold’, March 2024) with interest. It is evident that he does a wonderful job in his school and elsewhere. I chair a voluntary charity (Kent and Medway Young Musicians Trust), which helps promising youngsters to afford lessons, instruments, courses etc., so I am very much on the same page. I agree that talent is no respecter of income and am keen for music to be an opportunity for every child. It is good to hear that Labour would actively increase music provision, including adding an arts subject to the EBacc. I applaud their aims.
However, removing much of the present charitable status from private schools is problematic. These schools are maintained by parents, despite the fact that those same parents are usually already paying tax to support state education. If the private schools and the parents who support them start to struggle financially, many of the pupils will flood back into the public sector, requiring government finance and under-cutting the improvements Labour hopes to make. It is also worth noting that the 80% rates relief for charitable status mentioned in the article is also applied to state academies and the majority of special schools (for children with disabilities).
– Nancy Litten
