Before anyone accuses me of being duped, read my trenchant criticism of Nicola Sturgeon's apparent views on Hilary Clinton and US foreign policy at: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/03/04/sturgeon-and-clinton-does-being-a-woman-any-woman-trump-sic-her-war-crimes-her-murder-and-betrayal-of-the-poor/ That matters to me, a lot, but nothing can deny her massive achievements on the home front.
In the Guardian today, from George Monbiot, quite an heroic figure for me and often well-tuned into to Scottish affairs:
Bring your suitcase, your bin liner, your dumpy bag. They’re handing out money faster than you can stuff it in a sack. All you need do is join the market in what may now be England’s most lucrative commodity. A commodity with arms and legs, hearts and brains, thoughts and feelings. Children.
Two years ago I stumbled into this issue after discovering that children in care who were being helped by a local charity I’m involved with were suddenly being whisked away, terminating the amazing progress they had been making, breaking their relationships, their sense of home, stability and security. When I began exploring why this was happening, I could scarcely believe what I was seeing: a highly lucrative trade in highly vulnerable young people. Children in “care” were being exchanged between private equity companies for £100,000 apiece. That figure is now wrong. Today they are worth far more.
A few days ago, the Financial Times published an investigation that I defy you to read with anything but open-mouthed horror. The average charge to the state by a private provider for a child in “care” is now £384,020 a year. That’s six times what Eton charges. Some providers now levy more than £1m per child per year, rising in a few cases for children with complex needs to more than £3m.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/05/child-care-councils-private-equity-companies
George’s report is strangely Anglocentric so, here’s what is missing for Scots to know:
Nothing like this is happening in Scotland and it cannot happen because of the achievements of FM Nicola Sturgeon, her government, the SNP and all of us who support it. Nothing makes me prouder.
From ‘the promise in 2016:’
As a result, in Scotland but sadly not in England:
Unregistered/illegal children’s homes or carers (as in the English crisis) are highly unlikely in Scotland—effectively near-zero on a systemic scale—due to mandatory registration and active enforcement.
All children’s residential care (homes) and fostering services in Scotland must be registered with the Care Inspectorate. Operating without registration is illegal, and the regulator has powers to investigate, issue improvement notices, and cancel registrations (with strengthened enforcement via recent legislation like the Care Reform (Scotland) Act). gov.scot
Unregulated placements for under-16s are not permitted (unlike aspects of England’s system). Cross-border placements (e.g., English children in Scottish homes) are monitored with additional requirements.
Searches for Scottish equivalents turn up no comparable reports of hundreds of children in illegal settings. This issue is overwhelmingly documented as an England/Ofsted problem driven by severe placement shortages.
Finally rip-off prices?
Scotland: £28,000 operating profit per child per year.Across GB (England, Scotland, Wales): £44,000 average.
Difference: Scotland was about £16,000 lower per child (roughly 36% lower).
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62287a2e8fa8f526d6df251f/Scotland_summary_.pdf
Yes, I know, that £400 necklace and her bookshelves.
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Mr Monbiot’s report is NOT ‘strangely Anglocentric’ it is specifically about the situation in England as the headline makes clear:
“”Horrific, unregulated, and very profitable. The companies making cash from England’s children in care”
George Monbiot
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