The largest independent providers of children’s social care brought in profits of more than £300m last year, a report has found.
The report, produced by Revolution Consulting and commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA), found that council spending on privately run children’s homes has more than doubled in the past six years.
In 2021-22, local authorities in England spent £1.5bn on independently-run residential children’s care, an 11% increase on the previous year and a 105% increase since 2015-16.
Last year, the aggregate fee income of 19 of the 20 largest independent providers, with CareTech excluded, was £1.63bn.
Of this income, 19% – a total of £310m – was recorded as profit.
The chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, Louise Gittins, said: ‘It is wrong that some providers are making excessive profit from providing these homes when money should be spent on children.’
She added: ‘Decreasing visibility of financial information makes it increasingly difficult to understand the financial health of these organisations that are largely funded by public money.
The LGA called for greater financial oversight of the largest independent providers.
