Private teachers 'must help in state sector' says Johnson

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Education Secretary Alan Johnson believes the expertise of those in the private sector should be made available to children at state schools, particularly in more deprived areas.

Mr Johnson says private schools needed to do more to justify their contentious charitable status - and lending their teachers for a few days a week is one way they

can do this. He also suggests that schools in the private sector should be more willing to offer bursaries to children from poorer families, take children from state education on secondment and open up their often superior facilities.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph today, Mr Johnson says: "It's not enough just to lend playing fields; it's about the science lab, it's about teachers - there are excellent maths teachers in private schools.

"Let them give a bit of their expertise to the state sector." Mr Johnson does not go into specifics about how such an arrangement would work and his comments are sure to face severe criticism in the private sector.

The charitable status afforded to private schools - worth £100million a year overall in tax breaks - has long been opposed by Labour activists.

The Charity Commission is consulting on a written definition of the 'public benefit test' by which schools' charitable status should be assessed.

Meanwhile, the Tories are drawing up plans to tempt private schools to run nonselective, state funded City Academies.

• Grammar schools are to be barred from expanding after being excluded from a Government scheme to let popular secondaries take in more pupils.

Reforms ushered in by the Education and Inspections Act 2006 will give successful schools funding to expand even if there are spare places in neighbouring schools.

Grammars, which select by ability, will still be able to apply to expand under these circumstances but will not receive extra cash to build new classrooms.