Herald Express: We must introduce a profit cap on private SEND providers

This month House of Commons Library research, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, discovered something shocking: top private equity companies who run schools catering for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have seen their annual profits surge as the SEND crisis has deepened. Some are making margins of over 20%. 

Local councils, teetering on the brink of financial collapse because of the costs of care, are shelling out money for SEND school places and boosting the profits of private equity firms – which is why the Lib Dems have called for a profit cap of 8%. 

SEND provision is a desperate issue for hundreds of parents across South Devon, and I find this level of profiteering from private equity firms disturbing. Nationwide it is a major driver of the crisis in our SEND system and has to end.  

So I’m pleased to see newly Lib Dem-led Devon County Council recently pledge to support children in care using not-for-profit providers.  

This is a step in the right direction that I hope will reduce costs and increase value for money, while improving the outcomes for Devon’s most vulnerable children. 

But we need national action, too. The Government must cap the profits of these private equity firms, to ensure that money is channelled back into the SEND system, and not into the pockets of shareholders. It is time to put provision over profit, as our young people deserve so much better.  

The Education Select Committee, of which I am a member, has been doing an enquiry into SEND since last summer, which has left me with no doubt about the urgent need for reform across the system.  

And it’s clear to all the parents and carers who have to battle to secure support for their child that the system is fundamentally broken. 

The process to get an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) – a legally binding document to ensure a child or young person with special educational needs or disabilities gets support from a local authority – is frequently combative, and often results in legal action. The parents usually win, but the fight is exhausting. 

This casts councils in a bad light, but, in truth, they are in a bind – the more EHCPs they grant, the more provision they are legally obliged to provide, and they are buckling under the financial strain.  

Before parliament’s recess, the Government set off alarm bells when they trailed a plan to scrap EHCPs. It is not surprising parents and carers are worried. For many, it took a legal challenge to get an EHCP in the first place, and the concern around them being ditched is understandable.  

But the fact that a conversation around reform is even happening should be welcome. After years of Conservative neglect, a commitment to review the SEND system is refreshing and deeply needed.  

The Liberal Democrats recently set out five principles to help guide the Government’s reform, which include maintaining the right to SEND assessments for children, boosting special school capacity, and cutting waiting lists.  

For too long, a broken system has forced children and families to fight to get the support they need. Outcomes for those children have not improved while council deficits have skyrocketed.  

It’s time for honest, ambitious reform, that puts children first. It was disappointing that parliament went into recess without the Government clarifying its plans, but the reform must be thorough and well considered.