Michael Bond, the chairman of the London Fee Assistance Consortium (LFAC), has defended the group’s purpose of paying for children’s independent education, The Telegraph has reported.

Schools in the LFAC, a coalition of 24 independent schools in London, have been instructed to withdraw advertisements claiming they provide education with “no fees”.

The original advertisement stated: “Top London schools. No fees” but now reads “Top London independent schools can be free”, with an asterisk linking to terms and conditions.

The wording was changed after a member of the public complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that the claim was misleading.

Bond said the organisation was established to “raise awareness that members, and many other independent schools up and down the country, offer fully-funded places to families whose children would thrive in our settings, but whose financial circumstances would make paying fees impossible”.

On the threat posed by Labour’s VAT on fees policy, Bond, who is head of Brentwood School in Essex, added: “Independent schools want to be [and are] part of the solution to, not the problem with, our education system and we hope the government will respond to the sector’s efforts to engage, rather than continue down a path that will have devastating consequences for many children.”