A clampdown on fees in private sector SEN provision could lead to providers leaving the market, according to reports.
Private special schools could soon be subject to price bands and new national SEND standards following concerns that councils are relying too heavily on costly private places, according to the TES.
The Department for Education (DfE) said reforms, due to be announced tomorrow, would address what it described as “unjustified fee variation for the same provision”, and will allow councils the confidence to challenge “poor value placements” and to “guarantee consistent results”.
Private profit
The government said last week that independent special schools “charge an average of £63,000 per child per year – more than twice the £26,000 cost of a state special school. Yet there is no evidence children do any better.”
It added that more than 30% of these schools were “backed by private equity firms, with public money intended for children and young people with the most complex needs instead flowing into private profit”.
But school leaders working in both sectors said that the system may not cope if the plans for price bands lead private schools to leave the market.
The concerns were raised as the government is expected to unveil its schools white paper, which will detail plans for SEND reforms in the UK.
Leaks ahead of the announcement suggested that Ministers were going to implement a huge cost-cutting exercise that would see more SEND pupils educated in the mainstream, with much less reliance on the private sector.
The DfE also wants to reduce the burden on local authorities to fund SEND to the extent they currently do, where many councils are facing bankruptcy.
Lack of capacity
Warren Carratt, CEO of Nexus Multi Academy Trust, which runs 19 academies, including 17 special schools, said of the plans to cap fees in private settings: “The key reason why councils are spending money on independent settings is that they do not have the state school capacity in their areas to meet need.”
He said that ministers had “compounded” the shortage of places by not allowing a number of new special schools to go ahead as part of the free schools programme, despite councils saying they needed them.
Claire Dorer, chief executive of the National Association of Special Schools (NASS), which represents independent providers, said that an upper limit on fees could result in a “catastrophic loss” of special school provision.
“Suggesting an upper figure for a price cap – in the absence of any meaningful data about the real costs, price and value of specialist provision – is a reckless act of politicking,” she said.
Dorer urged the government to engage with independent special schools on plans to introduce banded funding. She added that needs-led decision making should not be replaced by “arbitrary” funding caps or by “broad categories that fail to reflect the complexity of children’s lives and the complexity of services needed to support them”.
A ‘sensible move’?
Despite these concerns, unions have broadly welcomed the changes.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said that standardising fees in special schools was “a sensible move to ensure fairness and consistency across the system.
“It will be crucial that funding for the different bands matches the needs of the child and allows local authorities and schools to put the appropriate level of specialist provision in place.
Louise Gittins, chair of the Local Government Association, said some providers were setting “unreasonably high prices”.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said last week: “For too long families have faced a postcode lottery – fighting for support that depends on where they live, not what their child needs. That ends now.
“We’re cracking down on providers who put profit before children. New standards and proper oversight will ensure every independent special school placement delivers real outcomes for children – not unreasonable bills for local authorities.”
A version of this article was originally published in our sister publication, School Management Plus.
