DCH 232 Christ's Hospital
SUBMISSION TO THE JOINT COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT
- DRAFT CHARITIES BILL
INTRODUCTION
This submission is made on behalf of Christ's Hospital.
It is a charitable education Foundation, which financially supports
an independent boarding school of the same name.
It uses the name gifted by its founder, Edward VI,
in 1553. It holds good to the original mission of the 16th
Century which created Christ's Hospital for "fatherless children
and other poore men's children". It does so in the context
of the 21st Century.
THIS SUBMISSION
This submission cites Christ's Hospital as an existing,
historic charity delivering public benefit via its Foundation
and independent residential school.
We also offer the Joint Committee our considerations
on the Public Benefit Test of the future.
PURPOSE OF CHRIST'S HOSPITAL
q We admit
children in need. Our admissions process is open access and does
not depend on the ability to pay.
q Need can
be justified on grounds of housing, health, finance, home circumstances
or a combination of these or other factors.
q Christ's
Hospital is wholly reliant on its ability, through the assets
of the Foundation, to generate an annual income of some £15
million to fund the education of some 800 pupils. The cost of
educating one child is over £17,000 per annum.
q The average
parental contribution per annum is £2,519.
q The average
parental income is £18,403.
CHRIST'S HOSPITAL JUDGED OVER TIME
"Christ's Hospital is a thing without parallel
in the country and sui generis" - report of the Schools Enquiry
Commissioners 1867/8.
"Lingering I quit you (Christ's Hospital) with
as great a pang,
As when ere while, my weeping childhood, torn by
early sorrow from my native seat,
Mingled its tears with hers - my widow'd Parent
lorn " - S T Coleridge
"Coming from a challenging background, Christ's
Hospital taught me a sense of pride and order. Even now, its
like being part of a second family" - Davis Mukasa, former
pupil 1988-1995.
"CH would pass any test of public benefit with
flying colours" - The Independent 2003.
OUR PARENTAL BODY IS UNIQUE
q We identify
potential parents from the disadvantaged sections of the community
(see pie chart)
q We recruit
across Great Britain. Efforts are especially concentrated
both on our founding home, the City of London, and deprived areas
of Sussex, our home for the past 100 years.
q Now based
in Sussex we target deprived areas using statistics issued by
the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which measures deprivation
via a series of indices (Regeneration Research Summary).
q We work
in partnership with local authorities e.g. the Shoreditch Learning
Trust serving Hackney, State primary schools and like-minded support
agencies such as School - Home Support.
q Of some
800 pupils:
- 220 (28%) have homes in London.
- The majority of these live in one of the 11
Inner City boroughs e.g. Hackney and Southwark.
- 240 from the most deprived areas in Sussex:
- "West Sussex is not without its social,
economic and health problems" (South East of England Development
Agency Report)
- Adur has the lowest number of university acceptances
in the UK (Adur District Council).
- Christ's Hospital draws pupils from 13 of the
most deprived wards in Sussex which feature amongst the one third
worst in the UK.
- 340 reside across the UK:
- CH recruits from areas such as Bristol, Telford,
Ipswich, King's Lynn and the Isle of Wight which are also included
in the worst one third of deprived wards in the UK.
PARENTAL FINANCES
q All parents
are means tested annually.
q 98% of
parents are supported financially.
q 20% earn
less than £7,500 and therefore pay nothing for their child's
7 years at Christ's Hospital.
q We maintain
a limit on the number of parents who can afford full fees: currently
this is just the parents of 16 pupils.
PUBLIC BENEFITS AT CHRIST'S HOSPITAL
q Open access
to any parent regardless of ethnicity, status or income.
q Diversity
of opportunity is provided to parents on the lowest of incomes.
We provide education suited to the child, the parent and disadvantaged
home circumstances such as home overcrowding, permanent parental
ill health, child or parental dysfunction.
q Enhances
the independence of single parents by permitting them to work
(50% of our children have only one parent).
q Provides
a unique impact and capacity for the poorest and most disadvantaged
not replicated elsewhere in either private or State education.
q The breadth
and quality of education equates to the highest standards of the
independent sector. Music, drama, sport and a host of activities
to foster hobbies and interests.
q An extensive
programme with the community has flourished for decades based
on use of our facilities and CH pupils working in the community
at home and abroad.
COMMENTS ON THE INTENDED PUBLIC BENEFIT
TEST
We suggest that:
q There
should be evidence that the public benefit is one which enhances
social diversity and opportunity regardless of personal and financial
circumstances.
q The proportion
of such beneficiaries should be approximately 50% of the total
number benefiting from the service.
q In line
with the Government's wish to find a greater role for the voluntary
sector to provide public services, those charities which pass
the Public Benefit Test should be eligible for State funding.
q When Government
Assisted Places and Advanced Corporation Tax were withdrawn, genuine
charities, including schools, were adversely affected to a material
financial degree.
q An objective
definition of "public benefit" should be forthcoming
whether enshrined in legislation or, and perhaps more appropriate,
directed to the Charity Commission to apply in the diverse charity
sector.
David Farrington Michael
L Simpkin
Chair of Trustees Chief
Executive
| 
