SEND reform: Govt must launch a CMA investigation into price gouging as some councils see costs soar tenfold

EMBARGO: 06:00 Friday 12th December 2025

The Liberal Democrats are today calling for emergency intervention in the broken market for private Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision, after new data shows local authority spending on these firms has skyrocketed by more than tenfold in some areas since 2015.

To tackle this scandalous profiteering at the expense of children’s education, the Liberal Democrats are calling for an immediate investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the private SEND market to root out price gouging.

The party is also calling for a profit cap on private SEND providers to stop private equity firms draining public funds, with an 8% cap in line with other public tender contracts.

A Freedom of Information request commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed the staggering scale of the crisis. Analysis of spending by local authorities across England shows that payments to private providers have exploded since 2015, pushing council finances to the brink.

The data reveals massive spending increases in counties across England, with 30 total councils responding, including:

• Hampshire County Council: Spending on private SEND providers has risen by over 569% since 2015/16, from just under £14 million to nearly £93 million last year.
• Surrey County Council: Expenditure has almost tripled, rising from £39.5 million to over £115 million.
• Central Bedfordshire: Recorded a staggering 1,214% increase, with costs jumping from £424,000 to over £5.5 million.
• Kent County Council: Now spending over £91 million a year on private providers, up from £34.7 million in 2015/16.

Liberal Democrats will submit a bill to Parliament, calling for the Government to enshrine into law our proposed 8% profit cap on private SEND providers. Yesterday,  Lib Dem leader Ed Davey MP, education spokesperson Munira Wilson MP and schools spokesperson Caroline Voaden MP met with families who rely on SEND provision to discuss the issues facing them.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey MP, said:

“It beggars belief that successive Governments have allowed this rigged racket to drag on as long as it has. Greedy private equity firms have drained council coffers whilst vulnerable children have been left waiting for the support they desperately need.”

"With private placements costing two and a half times more than state provision, the market is unsustainably broken - something has to give.

"Liberal Democrats are demanding that the Government caps these profits and launches an immediate CMA investigation into the fairness of the market. Every penny of funding for special needs provision must go into the classroom to support children, not into the pockets of private equity."

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

All data from our FOI can be found here.

Photos from the SEND roundtable can be found here.