This issue has recently come to the fore because The Charity Commission has published a report into the first round of organisations which had been subjected to the new ‘public benefit' test introduced under the Charities Act 2006 and effective from 1^st April 2008.  Two private, fee-paying schools were deemed not to satisfy the test and will be advised on how to meet it in order to retain their charitable status. To find out more about the criteria for demonstrating ‘public benefit' please refer to the Charity Commissions guidelines on this by clicking here