Member

Again, without investment in capacity, this is a high-risk approach to addressing the current problems in provision. It has been estimated that the profit per placement, so per child for a full year, ranges between £50,000 and £100,000 for a child in residential care. With 8,640 children in care, including those in secure accommodation, and 85% in private equity-owned homes, that is a profit of around half a billion pounds a year—according to my envelope which I found the back of. Can the Minister confirm what she thinks the annual profit is of the private equity companies in this area?