Private equity firms now own or partly own 11 of the 20 largest providers of fostering and children's homes in England, according to new research from the thinktank Common Wealth, fuelling calls for a ban on "obscene" profit-making in children's social care. The investigation found the "big four" independent fostering agencies, which supply almost a quarter of England's fostering placements, have paid out more than £200m from taxpayer funding to shareholders as interest since 2020, with Unison's general secretary describing this as vulnerable children's welfare being used to "line pockets".

The analysis found at least a third of fostering placements and a fifth of children's homes placements are run by firms backed by private equity, hedge funds, venture capital or sovereign wealth funds, which use shareholder loans with interest rates of 8%–14% to extract wealth while reducing taxable profits. National Fostering Group, the UK's largest independent fostering provider, has paid over £116m in loan interest and £71m in preference share interest since 2020. The Competition and Markets Authority previously found the largest private providers charge higher prices and carry high debt levels, and the UK government has pledged tighter oversight and potential profit caps, while Wales has gone further by promising to end for-profit provision.