Private equity companies now own or partly own 11 of the 20 largest providers of fostering and children’s homes in England, as calls to ban “obscene” profit-making in children’s care grow.

An investigation by the thinktank Common Wealth found the “big four” independent fostering agencies – which provide almost a quarter of fostering placements in England – have paid out more than £200m from taxpayers to shareholders in interest payments since 2020.