Councils are spending £2 billion 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) discovered that expenditure has risen by 46% in just four years, underscoring the state’s heavy reliance on private schools.
The committee noted that local councils are being compelled to finance placements at private schools for individuals with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) due to a shortage of space in state schools.
Recently, even the Department for Education (DfE), which is overseen by the Labour Party, acknowledged that private schools “have a part to fulfill” in educating individuals with SEND, according to the report.
It comes amid concerns some private schools could close due to Labour’s tax raid, leaving any SEND pupils on their rolls without places.
From this month, VAT will be charged on fees for private schools, and from April their business rates relief will be removed.
A spokesman for the campaign group Education Not Taxation said: ‘The PAC’s findings show how much the Government relies on independent schools to serve the most vulnerable children, which calls into question yet again Labour’s divisive rhetoric and ill-judged attack on these schools.’
The wide-ranging PAC report highlighted the ‘chaotic’ and ‘unviable’ SEND system and warned many families are unable to access the help they need.
Councils are spending £2 billion a year to send pupils with special needs to private schools amid Labour’s attack on the sector, MPs have revealed (file image)
A recent National Audit Office report stated pupils with EHCs placed at private schools rose by 17,000 between 2018/19 and 2023/24 (file image)
And it warned many children with education, health and care (EHC) plans for their SEND are not able to be accommodated in state schools.
It said: ‘Due to a state sector capacity being unable to meet rising demand, local authorities are spending more on costlier independent school placements for children with EHCs.’
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, 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.’
Councils are authorised to pay for private school for those with EHCs if there is no available state place available (file image)
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.
However, it has not addressed what would happen if pupils lose their places due to schools closing.
Last month, Suzanne Hall, proprietor at Farrowdale House Preparatory School, said the new tax rules could cause schools catering to SEND to close.
She said: ‘If they have to close… children with SEND could be pushed into the state sector where they are unlikely to cope, and ultimately may end up homeschooled.’
Last night a Government source said Labour was fixing a ‘broken’ SEND system ‘left by the last government’.
They hit out at the ‘effrontery’ of recent criticism from the Tories of Labour reforms aimed at raising standards in the state sector.
