FOI request (FOIR-863550957)

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would like to request the following information about the Council's placement of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) at independent/private SEN providers.

Definitions: "Non-maintained special schools (NMSS)" means independent special schools approved under s.342 Education Act 1996, typically run not-for-profit. "Independent/private SEN providers" means any other independent school/setting not maintained by a local authority and not an NMSS — e.g. Witherslack Group, Outcomes First Group/Acorn Education, Aspris, Cambian, CareTech, Hesley Group, Kisimul Group, Options/Salutem. Please identify which category each school/setting falls into, as I'm specifically interested in independent/private (not NMSS) providers.

Years covered: FY24 (2023/24), FY25 (2024/25), FY26 (2025/26) — please give each year separately.

FOI request:

1. For each of the 3 years (FY24, FY25, FY26), please provide the total number of EHCPs newly issued during the year

2. For each of the 3 years (FY24, FY25, FY26), please provide a breakdown of every independent/private SEN provider the Council placed children with EHCPs with, showing: (i) provider/parent company name, (ii) individual school/setting name, (iii) number of children placed, (iv) total amount paid to each provider, (v) average annual cost per placement for each provider. If average costs are not held, please provide the total expenditure and pupil numbers only
3. For each of the 3 years (FY24, FY25, FY26), please provide the Total High Needs Block expenditure on EHCP placements, broken down by: (i) independent/private providers and (ii) other provision (which can include council-maintained special schools, NMSS, resourced provision/SEN units in mainstream schools, alternative provision, and any other category you use)
4. For each of the 3 years (FY24, FY25, FY26), please provide (i) total annual expenditure on Council-maintained special schools, (ii) the number of pupils placed in Council-maintained special schools, and, if already held, (iii) the average annual cost per placement in those schools. If average costs are not held, please provide the total expenditure and pupil numbers only