It is well-known that Hartlepool has some of the highest levels of deprivation in England, and that its council tax is higher than that of Kensington and Chelsea. This dangerous combination goes some way to explain Hartlepool’s un-exalted position of 3rd highest place in England for numbers of children in care. But, it doesn’t explain why Steve Reed, Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government (allegedly) said, “That’s life” in response to a discussion about Hartlepool’s request for additional funding to cover their children’s social care costs.

Hartlepool’s request for £3 million to plug its funding gap may seem a lot until we consider that in England alone the children’s social care budget alone is £6.6billion (this is estimated to rise by 82% by 2030). As with most news stories relating to social care, only the Guardian is reporting on this. The reasons for the media’s disinterest in social care is reflected in the wider population, with few understanding how it works, how it is funded and ignoring the fact that all of us will likely need to draw on it in our lifetime.

But, I’m not really here to talk about perceptions of social care, I’m here to draw attention to a common problem across all aspects of care – money. I don’t want to focus on where most of the attention is,  which is where the money is coming from, I want to explore where that money goes and why it’s a massive problem for all of us.

As is the case with anything in the 21st century, vulture capitalism sees an opportunity in public services that have been starved of funding, attention and support; care has been no exception. 

Across all aspects of social care – whether it be children’s, SEND or adult social care –  private and profit making providers exist. Public money which is intended to help children and adults live good lives is being drained from the system that is supposed to do this.

Thankfully, much smarter people than I, have dug into those numbers to reveal the startling amount of money being removed from the public purse for high executive pay, shareholder profits and into offshore banks. Recent reports by Common Wealth and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) have shone a light on the where and the how of this wealth extraction. 

As public services have been starved of funding and attention, vulture capitalism has been able to take advantage of local governments. As services were out-sourced and austerity bit harder and harder, pushing up demand on services for people whose lives were at the sharp-end of that political campaign, attention moved further and further away from the experience of care and to how will these vital services keep running. As such, the conversation has been about funding – we need more, we have a care crisis due to underfunding and whilst funding has reduced in comparison to need there remains plenty of money in the system. It is merely, quietly going to the wrong places. It is not going to those who have the closest relationship to care to improve that experience, instead it is going to shareholders or into private wealth.

As Common Wealth found, for every £100 going to private foster agencies, £21 is being extracted as profit. As CLES showed, of the 20 largest providers of children’s homes and foster care 50% have a private equity or sovereign wealth fund owner. 

CLES’s analysis showed that in just three, yes, that’s three regions in England, the North East (where Hartlepool is), South Yorkshire and the West Midlands; private providers extracted £250 million in profits (across all social care).

Hartlepool’s request pales in comparison to this level of profit, but also begs the question: how much of that £3 million will go to private profit?

Our recent report: The Case for Care Solidarity identified wealth extraction as a key characteristic of our current economic model that affected all those with a relationship to care; it is the thing that can unify children in care with foster carers, care workers with disabled people, unpaid carers with parents.

“The Labour party continues to be trapped in the 21st century, representing the interests of the imagination-less billionaire class. They’re all tailored suits and ‘growth’ at all costs…. Unfortunately for them, there’s a whole living world of ideas and imagination remembering the future. And that future is imbued with the principles of love, care & freedom for all. This is a kind of collective consciousness-raising and we have an obligation to keep that alive and flourishing.” Paul Nelson, Care-Experienced Activist

It’s time those with the closest relationship to care came together and pushed for the change they will most benefit from, the end of profiteering from people’s lives when they are at their hardest. Because, I’m afraid Steve Reed, that shouldn’t be what we expect for our lives.

Ruth Hannan