It has been reported by the Guardian that UK councils are "routinely inviting private companies to compete for contracts".
Had these online adverts been for catering sevices or building contracts nobody would mind. However, it seems that in the eyes of some councilors...
...Whats good for the goose, is good for the gander...
A Guardian investigation found evidence of local authorities putting the personal details of children in online adverts, including information about previous sexual abuse and gang involvement, while inviting bids from private companies for their care...
Knowsley council in Merseyside has published at least five adverts this year that included personal details such as date of birth, family history and accounts of sexual abuse, while inviting bids for children’s care. The adverts have since been removed after the council was contacted by the Guardian.
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To any rational-minded human being this is nothing less than legalized child-trafficking. And for anyone who has been watching the IICSA hearings, about the not-so-historical abuse of children within Nottinghamshire care homes, you will already know that abusers prey upon children who have already been abused. For the councils to be offering-up these personal details is not just irresponsible and/or reckless, it is actually helping peadophiles to track their next victim(s).
Subsequently, this terrible practice has led to private foster care providers to look for cheaper premises, usually in the most deprived of areas around the UK. Obviously, this allows them to reduce their overheads and these reductions continue to increase as they are then able to recruit staff at a much lower wage. All of this simply serves the private sector by increasing their profit margins, all at the cost of the child's safety. Furthermore, with these low-cost fostering agencies being able to undercut their competitors it allows them to place the lowest bid within the auction and win any contract that is up for grabs.
Another problem that has arisen from all of this is that many kids taken into care are placed in areas that are unfamiliar to them and they often go missing. It has been reported by the Guardian that children as young as 9-years of age have vanished from care and in Knowelsley alone it is reported that the number of missing children placed into care had TRIPLED from 111 in 2013-14 to 325 in 2017-18.
One care worker employed by a home run by a private company in London described a system where children are brought in at any cost. Speaking annonymously she said “Children are cattle, they are there to fill a spot. You get a kid from the north, the home cannot control the kid, so they bring them down to a different house. That child cannot be controlled at that house so they send them elsewhere,” she said. “The worse off the kid is, the more money they get, and the more money they get, they will push other children out.”
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