A state-funded further education college which serves one of Scotland's poorest communities was warned yesterday it must make changes to remain a charity, while the charitable status of a leading private school was confirmed.
John Wheatley College in Glasgow fell foul of rules which limit ministerial involvement in how funds are spent.
However, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) ruled that the High School of Dundee, whose fees range from £5841 to £8304 a year, qualifies due to the range of bursaries and the access to its facilities it offers to the local community.
Ministers are allowed to direct a college's board of management in some circumstances, such as financial mismanagement, but charities must be fully independent from government. Ministers have two years to change their involvement with FE colleges or exempt them from the new rules.
The cases were some of the first to be assessed by OSCR since new legislation was introduced by the Scottish Parliament in 2006 to tighten up control of charities in Scotland following a number of high-profile scandals involving cancer charities.
Under the new rules, charities must be able to demonstrate they have a charitable aim and benefit the public while OSCR also checks on what proportion of money a charity uses to pay for administration and other costs.
As part of a pilot review of a selection of charities, OSCR looked at 16 groups which volunteered to be studied, including a miners' welfare society, a museum, a church, playgroup and a university. All passed apart from John Wheatley College and the Voluntary Action Fund.
Jane Ryder, chief executive of OSCR, said: "It was concluded that although Dundee High School charges fees, these weren't unduly restrictive, bearing in mind there were arrangements for facilitated access through support for payment of fees."
Ms Ryder said OSCR had alerted the executive to the situation with John Wheatley College.
Last night, the Association of Scotland's Colleges (ASC) urged the government to take action as soon as possible. "Colleges play a vital role in our society by addressing Scotland's skills needs and bridging the gap to education and employment that so many people face," a spokeswoman said.
An executive spokeswoman said: "We are considering the implications of the decision."
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