Private schools charging councils £250k for each Send pupil

10 comments

1. tldr Public sector dont provide enough school places for pupils with special needs, private sector provide places but at a cost… but private sector are evil for “profiteering” and not the public sector for being incompetent

2. Almost like forcing them to pay tax without any offset incentive was a bad idea. Politics of envy.

3. I know a child who is driven over an hour each way by private taxi with driver + carer to a special school. He does need a special school, but he cannot go to the one that is under 10 minutes away and would also be suitable because .. it’s not in his LA. So he has to go to the one at the other end of his LA (which is geographically large)

   Of course this extreme commute also means he gets tired, dysregulates more and then has more behavioural issues too…

4. There’s an easy solution to this, and that’s that councils could run their own schools.

5. Who could have guessed, private businesses charging the public purse extortionate prices, usually the same businesses that will lecture you about public overspending as well.

6. What happened to getting your own child to school?

7. The solution to this is cost-benefit analysis. A year of schooling for a SEND student is not worth paying £250k for, or the average £61,500 for an independent placement, or the average £23,900 for a state special school placement. All this is madness. The benefit is not commensurate with these costs. They need to cap the costs and provide services to a cost rather than fix a service level and pay whatever is necessary. SEN graduates earn £17k on average (15 yrs after education, source: DFE research report “Post 16 Education and labour market activities” May 2021). £23.9k per year on schooling takes £10.4k lifetime working income to pay back assuming 11 years of education and a 2% real discount rate. £10k/year education costs, which is already close to 2x the spending on non-SEND students, would be at the upper end of what could be justified.

8. Let’s see the council do it cheaper…

   Also, remind me which party was in government when the special schools were closed.

9. ‘Massive corporations are raking it in by taking advantage of those less fortunate whilst the working class argue with each other about benefits and skin colour’

   Next please.

10. Huge headline figures but it’s also bloody expensive providing two to one care for a child.

    You’re probably looking at £100-150k of direct staff costs, before you even think about the building, equipment, ancillary staff (and profit).

    Does seem like this (and children’s homes) shouldn’t be in profit making companies hands though.

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