MP VIKKI Slade has condemned the “profiteering” private SEND providers.
Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Vikki Slade has criticised the “profiteering” of private Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) providers – and is backing calls for a cap on their profits.
She warned that local taxpayers are being “ripped off” while vulnerable children are let down by a broken system.
It comes after research by the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, found top private SEND providers – many owned by private equity firms or foreign sovereign wealth funds – are making profit margins of more than 20 per cent. Meanwhile, councils across the country are grappling with rising costs.
Among those named is Witherslack Group Limited, which operates 37 schools across the UK. The company reported profit margins of between 20 and 21 per cent in each of the past two years.
The Liberal Democrats are now calling for an eight per cent cap on profits made by private SEND providers. They are also urging the government to provide better funding so councils can meet their legal responsibilities without risking financial collapse.
Figures show there are currently 4,333 children in Dorset with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), while SEND home-to-school transport cost councils £1.42 billion nationally in 2023/24.
The party claims 640 children with SEND are currently without a school place across England – while private providers continue to make what it described as “excess profits.”
Mrs Slade, the former leader of BCP Council and now the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said she had seen the impact on the ground.
“The SEND system is broken, and it is children and local taxpayers who are paying the price,” she said.
“As a former council leader, I saw how high-cost private SEND placements consumed local budgets and left councils struggling to deliver other vital services. Now, as an MP, I hear from parents desperate for proper provision, while private companies profit.
“Families and children with SEND deserve better than a system that enriches private equity at their expense. It’s time to end profiteering and fix this broken system once and for all.”
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