Member

Amendment 141 tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Addington, seeks to extend the powers to cap profits in Clause 15 to cover independent schools wholly or mainly concerned with the provision of education and care for pupils with SEND. I assure the noble Lord that we appreciate the challenges in the SEND system, including the disproportionate costs and the profit-making of some independent schools, but I do not think that this approach is the appropriate way to respond. The school system does not operate as a market in the same way that the placement market does. Placements there are made through the statutory education, health and care plan process. Policy interventions designed for the children’s social care market may not be the best way forward for SEND. However, in our consideration of SEND reform, which we will set out in due course, we are considering carefully the place of profit in special schools. This is certainly something that we will return to and have more to say about.