Foreign Office bills the taxpayer £14 million to send diplomats’ children to prestigious schools, figures reveal
- Just under 13.8million was allocated to send children to top private schools
- 514 children went to Eton, Millfield and Rishi Sunak’s own Winchester College
The Foreign Office billed the taxpayer nearly £14million to send diplomats’ children to some of the UK’s most prestigious schools last year.
Figures show just under £13.8million was allocated to send 514 children to top private schools such as Eton, Millfield and Winchester College, the alma mater of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The bill represents a near-31 per cent increase on the £10.5million outlay the previous year to subsidise schooling as part of a perk for senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials.
The figures were released by Foreign Office minister David Rutley in answer to a question by Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry.
He said it was a ‘long-standing practice that the legacy FCO provides clearly defined and limited financial support to staff to help maintain the continuity of their children’s education’.
The Foreign Office billed the taxpayer nearly £14million to send diplomats’ children to some of the UK’s most prestigious schools last year. Pictured: Eton College in Windsor
The figures were released by Foreign Office minister David Rutley (pictured) in answer to a question by Labour frontbencher Emily Thornberry
It means the taxpayer forked out an average of around £26,800 for each subsidised school place in the last year, up around 35 per cent from the £19,850 average contribution per place for the 531 children of diplomats in the UK a year earlier.
The biggest total annual bill, according to data going back to 2009, was for nearly £15.5million in 2012.
The figures also show just over £24.1million was spent on educating more than 1,188 children of UK diplomats overseas. This was up from £21.4million the previous year.
Domestically, the department’s figures show more money was spent on fees for Sevenoaks School in Kent (£721,965) than anywhere else.
Oundle School in Northamptonshire came next (£487,449), followed by Eton College (£246,720).
Charterhouse in Surrey received £171,760, while Winchester College was handed £143,232.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘Hard-pressed taxpayers will not take kindly to these figures.
‘While diplomats often have to move at a moment’s notice, the scale of these subsidies is difficult to justify, particularly during a cost of living crisis.
Figures show just under £13.8million was allocated to send 514 children to top private schools such as Eton, Millfield and Winchester College (pictured)
‘Diplomats should expect to send their children to one of our brilliant state schools, like everybody else does, or pay private school fees themselves.’
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: ‘Our staff are often asked to move frequently during their career, sometimes at very short notice, which is why it has been the policy of successive governments to support eligible families so that their children’s education is disrupted as little as possible.
‘There are clear caps on compensation offered to staff. The increase in our spending reflects the inclusion of legacy DFID [Department for International Development] staff and legacy FCO staff in a single FCDO figure from this year and a rise in boarding school fees.’
It comes as some of the most prestigious private schools in the country are to charge parents more than £50,000 a year for the first time.
A handful of schools including Cheltenham Ladies College, Concord College in Shropshire, and Harrow School in north west London have all moved above the threshold.
It means their boarding fees are well in excess of £16,500 per pupil, per term, for the upcoming school year
Eton, whose alumni include former Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince William, will charge boarders up to £49,998 per year.
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