Annual spending by councils on private children’s home placements soars
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Local authority spending on private residential care placements for children has increased by almost a quarter over the last year, latest government figures show.
The Department for Education’s LA and School Expenditure statistics for 2022/23 shows an increase in spending on placements in privately-owned children’s homes of around £400m - compared with 2021/22 - to more than £1.8bn.
A smaller increase of just under £200m was spent on private foster care placements across England’s 152 local authorities.
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The figures come despite a report by the Competition and Markets Authority, commissioned by Care Review chair Josh MacAlister and published in May 2022, which branded the children’s social care market “dysfunctional”.
Andrew Rome, director of Revolution Consulting, raised concerns that this increase in spending on private services could “swallow up” £600m additional funding for local authorities announced by the government last week.
Speaking to CYP Now, Rome highlighted comments made by children and families minister David Johnston at the National Children and Adult Services Conference in December last year during which he said the government is “looking at how the market operates around profiteering and looking at transparency around that”.
Overall, councils reported spending £13bn on children’s services in 2022/23, a 12 per cent increase in cash terms on the previous year.
This included £7bn on services for looked-after children, £3.3bn on safeguarding children and young people's services and £1.6bn on family support services.
The report also highlights that local authority spending on home to school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) increased by 24.4 per cent to £1.3bn compared with 2021/22 figures.
Mainstream home to school transport expenditure increased by 14.3 per cent to £460m
Home to post-16 provision for 16-to 18-year-olds with SEND increased by 28 per cent to £147.3m and home to post-16 provision for 19-to 25-year-olds with SEND increased by 24 per cent to £49.9m.
In November, the County Councils Network warned that the cost of school transport for children with SEND across county councils alone could reach more than £1bn for the first time over the next five years.
