Most of our local schools are in a financial mess and are experiencing serious funding problems. They have to spend their scarce resources patching-up dilapidated buildings and providing meals for hungry children. They don’t have enough books and, most importantly, dedicated and demoralised teachers are leaving in large numbers and in many cases not being replaced.

And yet at the same time this is happening and in the middle of an economic crisis, private schools are benefitting from substantial tax breaks. For example, parents don’t have to pay VAT on school fees. It seems to me that if we think it desirable to create a level playing field for all our children we should be urging our politicians to remove the charitable status of private schools and remove these unfair tax breaks. The money saved could be ploughed back into public education so that every child has a first-class education and not just the entitled few.

Given that education is close to the heart of every parent perhaps you could invite our local MP’s Gagan MohIndra (SW Herts) and Dean Russell (Watford) to use your columns to explain to us why tax breaks such as these benefit society?

Philip Parry

South-West Herts Labour Party