The Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to cap the ‘exorbitant’ profits of private providers of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) schooling.
The top private equity companies providing SEND schooling have made combined profits of over £100m a year, according to House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats.
The party called on the Government to introduce profit caps of 8% for these private companies to curb what they describe as ‘excessive profiteering off the backs of disabled children.’
Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said: ‘Children with special educational needs deserve the best possible support and should not be viewed as cash cows for vulture firms. This excessive profiteering is a major driver of the crisis in our SEND system. These companies should be ashamed.’
A Department for Education spokesperson said: ‘The system we’ve inherited has been failing families of children with SEND for far too long, and it’s appalling that some companies are capitalising on this crisis.’
They added: ‘We are already making progress to reform the SEND system, from more early intervention in mainstream schools across ADHD, autism and speech and language needs, through to £740 million investment to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools.’
