Friday's Jewish Chronicle reports that the head of Britain's Charity Commission, Dame Suzi Leather, has indicated that she will give a narrow interpretation to a provision in Britain's Charities Act 2006. Under the new law, private religious schools will be required to show that their educational activities provide a "public benefit" in order to maintain their advantageous tax status. Leather said that "public benefit" will require that activities extend beyond “a narrow, exclusive group” and that they benefit those on low incomes. The Chronicle says that the "narrow group" test may threaten 45 ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools that only admit children who come from rigidly observant Jewish families.
Meanwhile, Britain's Department for Children, Schools and Families last week released a document titled Faith in the System. The document, a joint statement with Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh supporters of faith schools, seeks to increase understanding of the role of publicly-funded schools with a religious character.
