This BBC article covers a National Audit Office (NAO) report showing that the cost of residential care for vulnerable children in England has nearly doubled in five years to £3.1bn, with councils spending an average of £318,400 per child annually, yet many children are still placed in unsuitable homes. The report highlights a “dysfunctional” system dominated by profit-driven private providers, leaving children often far from their local communities and without appropriate support; it calls for greater Department for Education oversight, while charities and campaigners demand urgent reforms to ensure children’s welfare is prioritized over profits.