Council spent £6m on private SEND company, research

Witherslack, which operates Chilworth House School and Chilworth House Upper School in Wheatley (not pictured), has turned over £200m in the past year

A council has spent £6.64m of public funds with a private special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provider over the past financial year, where owners made a £44m profit.

Oxfordshire County Council has worked with Witherslack, which operates Chilworth House School and Chilworth House Upper School in Wheatley, where 79 students are funded.

Liberal Democrats research into the profits of SEND companies found it turned over £200m, with profits up 150% from 2022.

Witherslack Group declined to formally comment but argues that its schools are initially loss making so the increase in profits reflects its investment in recent years and enables more pupils to receive a good education.

The Lib Dems have called for an 8% cap on profits for SEND companies to "stop shameless profiteering".

The party's education spokesperson, Munira Wilson, argued profits were made "off the backs of disabled children" and at a time local councils face financial strain.

Olly Glover, MP for Didcot and Wantage, said seeing local authorities spend £1.42bn nationally on some of providers was "a huge concern".

"A lot of it is public money that they're getting and local authority budgets are facing more and more pressure all the time," he said.

"That's why I'm pleased that Oxford County Council is bringing forward plans to introduce new special schools for the area, which they hope would be run by multi-academy trusts."

Mr Glover said the key was about "the balance between these companies and their right to make profits, but also looking at where they're getting them from".

"More and more of my constituents are frustrated that they see council tax bills going up," he said.

"More and more of that is going on things like adult social care or special educational needs provision.

"And that sometimes comes at the cost of investment in things that they would like to see more locally, particularly on roads."

A Department for Education spokesperson said the system the Labour government inherited "has been failing families of children with SEND for far too long".

"...it's appalling that some companies are capitalising on this crisis," they added.

"We are already making progress to reform the SEND system, from more early intervention in mainstream schools across ADHD, autism and speech and language needs, through to £740 million investment to encourage councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools."