ENGLAND: COUNCILS SPENDING $2.4B ON PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR SPED STUDENTS

Jan 16, 2025, Daily Mail: Councils spending £2bn [$2.4B] to send special needs pupils to private schools 

Councils are spending £2 billion [$2.48B] a year to send pupils with special needs to private schools amid Labour’s attack on the sector, MPs have revealed.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) found spending has increased by 46 per cent in just four years, highlighting the state’s ‘reliance’ on private schools.

It said councils spent £2 billion in 2022-2023, a 46 per cent real terms rise from 2018-19, when it was £1.4 billion [$1.7B], due to an increase in pupils.

A recent National Audit Office report stated pupils with EHCs placed at private schools rose by 17,000 between 2018/19 and 2023/24.

Councils are authorised to pay for private school for those with EHCs if there is no available state place available.

The report pointed to comments made in November by one of the DfE’s own senior civil servants, highlighting the importance of private schools.

Juliet Chua, Director General of the Schools Group at DfE, told the Commons Education Select Committee: ‘It is worth saying that independent specialist schools can play a key role in the system where there are particular low-incidence needs...

‘The significant growth in numbers suggests that there is a very high cost and reliance on the independent specialist sector.’

The report pointed out that ‘the Department wants to rely less on these settings’ because of the large cost.

But it added: ‘However, the Department recognised some needs will always need to be met in a specialist setting, with independent schools having a role to play.’

Labour has said its tax raid will not impact SEND pupils because councils can claim back any fee rises caused by VAT by applying to HMRC.