SEND funding gap a "damning indictment" as Lib Dems renew calls for profit cap on private providers

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

Responding to IFS analysis on the choices facing the Government on the forecast £6 billion SEND funding gap, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said:

"The £6 billion gap in special educational needs funding by 2028-29 is a damning indictment of this government's failure to get a grip on the system. The Government must not solve this crisis by raiding the budgets of mainstream schools. They must stop the scandalous profiteering in this sector that is costing the taxpayer millions and harming children's education.

"We know by the Government's own admission that placing a child in a private special school is nearly two and a half times more expensive than doing so in the public sector. This is simply indefensible.

“Liberal Democrats have demanded the Government immediately put a cap on the profits of private SEND providers. Ministers must act now to end this profiteering, fix the funding black hole, and redirect millions of public money out of the pockets of private equity and back into the frontline support that children with special educational needs desperately need.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

IFS analysis here.

WPQ setting out costs of private special schools vs public sector is here. 

See here for previous reporting on the Lib Dem call for a cap on profits for private SEND providers.