Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the level of funding spent by each local authority in England on private children care placements in financial year 2021-22.

The level of funding spent by each local authority in England on private provision can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/590f3ff4-eef3-4594-8ab5-08dafb06f66e.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) looked at provider profits as part of their market study of children’s social care in England, Scotland and Wales. The final report was published on 10 March 2022 and highlighted that some private providers of children’s homes and fostering agencies have high levels of profit.

The department welcomes the report and is carefully considering the CMA’s recommendations. We have committed to publishing an ambitious and detailed implementation strategy for children’s social care early in 2023.