'Private schools should lend staff'

A charities watchdog has warned independent schools of sanctions unless they prove their "public benefit" - raising the prospect of lucrative tax breaks being removed.

Mr Johnson - a candidate in the Labour deputy leadership contest - said simply allowing state pupils to use playing fields was not enough.

He said: "They need to do more to earn their charitable status. The original purpose of schools like Dulwich College was to educate the poor. Private schools in general have lost that sense and need to recapture it.

"It's not enough just to lend their playing fields; it's about opening up their science labs, lending their teachers to the state sector, sponsoring academies and forming trusts. Schools like Eton could be doing more."

Sharing teachers could also form part of a Tory plan for more private schools to fund academy schools in their local area, it has been reported.

The Charity Commission said in March that independent schools must not be the exclusive preserve of children from wealthier families but should help poor pupils by offering free places or scholarships.

In new draft guidance, the watchdog said every charity should be able to show that they bring real benefit to the wider public, not just private interests.

Under previous rules, charities which were set up to advance education were automatically presumed to have purposes which benefit the public.

The Commission said it is too early to discuss any possible threat to strip schools of their charitable status for failing to meet the new rules. But the draft guidance, published for consultation, said: "We might use our regulatory powers to enforce change if the trustees are not co-operating with us."