Commenting on profiteering from the placements of children in care, Andy Smith, President of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, said:

“The children in our care deserve to live in homes that meet their needs and as close to the people and places that matter to them as possible. However, finding the right placement is increasingly difficult due to the significant shortfall in suitable homes in the right locations and this is particularly true for those children needing the highest levels of support. Local authorities can pay tens of thousands of pounds a week for individual placements for children in care who are in crisis while providers can choose which children to accept, and the costs, due to high demand.

"Children's services have long operated in a mixed economy with private, voluntary and community providers involved in the delivery of services locally. However, some of the largest private equity backed providers are profiteering on the back of the work we do to support children and young people.  This is simply not acceptable. 

"The suite of measures in the government’s recent Children’s Social Care Policy Paper aimed at better market management, including new investment in supporting local authorities to commission placements at scale and to open up new children’s homes, is welcome.  It can be hard to understand ownership structures so measures around increased financial transparency and accountability for placement provider groups are similarly welcome. ADCS is ready and willing to support these reforms to ensure that the resources we have available are directed towards improving the lives of children and not shareholders or hedge fund investors.”