The NHS spends half a million pounds each year on providing care placements for children with private providers in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Some children in care with complex needs are looked after by charities and private companies.

These external placements are paid for by councils and the NHS.

Last year, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan University Health Board spent £568,612.31 on placing children with external care providers, according to a freedom of information (FoI) request.

The year before, the health board paid providers £575,642.63.

During those two years, the health board paid for 43 placements for children’s care.

While the costs of each placement are unclear, the average cost would be £26,610.58.

The providers used were: Action for Children, a charity which runs a respite home at Ty Robin in Barry; Ambito Care & Education, a private company which runs a special needs school and residential care home at Craig y Parc in Cardiff; Ferry Care, a private company which runs a care home called Five Oaks, in Abergavenny; Ty Hafan, a charity which runs a children’s hospice in Sully; Ysgol Y Dery, a special needs school in Penarth; Ludlow Street Healthcare, a private company which runs Beechwood College in Penarth; and Heronsbridge School, a council-run special needs school in Bridgend.

The University Health Board was also asked to disclose the cost of each individual placement, but refused to publish this information as it could “give unfair commercial advantage to competitors” of the private providers.

Responding to the FoI request, the health board said: “There could be a significant risk in prejudicing the commercial interests of the company in question.

“The UHB believes that disclosure of information — in a manner which fails to protect the interests and relationships arising in a commercial context — could discourage companies from dealing with the health board, because of fears the disclosure of information could damage them commercially.”

One of the private companies, Ludlow Street Healthcare, made £3.4 million profit and paid out £1.2 million in dividends in 2019, and is owned by a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, according to accounts filed on Companies House.

The parent company of Ambito took in £31.6 million revenue last year, but made a loss of £6.98 million. Ferry Care did not report its profits to Companies House last year.

How much Cardiff council and the Vale of Glamorgan council spend on external placements for children, and with which providers, is currently the subject of separate pending FoI requests.

A spokesperson for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: “Occasionally the health board uses external placements for children to address their specialist clinical needs.

“A child may require specialist treatment that the health board doesn’t provide. To ensure the most clinically appropriate care is provided, the child is referred to a specialist treatment centre through the Welsh Health Specialised Services Team for their clinical needs to be met.

“A number of different providers are used because there isn’t a ‘one-size fits all’ approach when dealing with children with complex needs.”