Finance secretary criticised for advising private school on rates relief

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has been criticised for advising one of Scotland’s top boarding schools on how to apply for tax relief after new Scottish Government reforms increase their tax bill, The Scotsman reports.

Mr Mackay wrote to Thomas Steuart Fotheringham, governor of the all-girls boarding school in Bridge of Earn, after being passed his concerns by Mr Fotheringham’s constituency MSP, Deputy First Minister John Swinney.

He said in the letter that private schools would still be able to apply for rates relief from local authorities under section 140 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

However, critics said Mr Mackay was “passing the buck” to local authorities.

The 130-page final report of the independent Barclay Review of business rates, which was accepted by the Scottish Government, proposes to end charity relief for private schools.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “We are certainly not passing the buck to local authorities and have in fact given them greater powers over rate reliefs to allow flexibility to local needs.

“We accepted the independent Barclay review recommendation that reduced or zero rate bills relief for independent schools across Scotland was unfair on state schools and should be removed.”